“Europa Galante exploits the music’s contrasting dynamics to striking effect, creating pleasing, lightly transparent string textures that allow clear audibility of all parts (…) Tasteful and neatly executed extempore solo ornamentation, some varied reprises and the occasional addition of transitional passages to link movements add to the mix. Fabio Biondi’s playing is sensitive, poetic and freely expansive in the aria-like central Largo and sparkles with articulate energy and technical agility in the fast movements (…) The recording is bright, vivid and ideally balanced.”
The Strad
August 2025
“With the Introduttioni, Fabio Biondi serves as conductor, and they are fascinating pieces (…) Biondi wisely adjusts his usual tumultuous, operatic style in favor of a quick, brighter sound with his small Europa Galante ensemble, perceiving correctly that the music can speak for itself. This is an essential album for those closely interested in the pre-Classical period, but it may be equally well recommended to general listeners.”
ALLMUSIC
“For those not accustomed to Biondi’s sound, there’s a real sweetness to it, and he’s a master at giving shape and phrasing. He employs significant vibrato, but in doses, and it’s not continuous.The ensemble’s cohesion, which is on full display in the ritornello of the final movement, is astonishingly tight.In conclusion, this is a strong release from champions of the Italian baroque. If the pieces are new to you, this is among the best you can get.”
BIBERFAN
July 2025
“Biondi and his friends in Europa Galante opt for a more intriguing Locatelli: the six Introduttioni teatrali (Theatrical Introductions) which constitute the first part of the Opus 4.Few recordings of the Introduttioni teatrali have been made so far. Fabio Biondi’s poetic eloquence brings fresh colours to them, even bringing to mind, at many moments of surprise contemporaneous pieces like Mondonville’s 6 Sonates en symphonie.Pursuing his grand European tour, the ever-voracious Fabio Bondi here closes another loop – and with what a mouthwatering final act”
Prestomusic
September 2025
2025
EDITOR’S NOTES
Famous throughout Europe for his exceptional violin virtuosity, Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695–1764) left behind a body of work of great artistic value, albeit limited in quantity, which he largely edited himself after moving to Amsterdam in 1729. Fabio Biondi draws on this corpus to paint an original portrait of the composer. Rather than returning to L’Arte del violino op. 3, Locatelli’s best-known work — already the subject of his 1995 recording (Opus 111, OPS30-104) — Biondi and the musicians of Europa Galante turn to a more enigmatic side of the composer: the six Introduttioni teatrali that open Opus 4.
Discografia
