Violin & ConductorBorn in Palermo, Fabio Biondi began his international career at the age of twelve, performing his first solo concert with the RAI symphony orchestra. Driven early on by an inexhaustible cultural curiosity, Fabio Biondi was introduced to the pioneers of the new approach to Baroque music, an opportunity that was to expand his musical vision and change the direction of his career. When he was sixteen, he was invited by the Musikverein of Vienna to perform Bach's violin concertos. Since then, Fabio Biondi has performed with numerous ensembles including Capella Reial, Musica Antiqua Wien, Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre (he led the orchestra at its very first concert) all specialised in the performance of Baroque music using historic technique and instruments.
In 1990, Fabio Biondi founded Europa Galante, an ensemble which, in just a few years, thanks to their worldwide concert schedule and extraordinary recording successes, became the most internationally renowned and awarded Italian Baroque ensemble. Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante have been invited to play in the world’s most important festivals and concert halls, from La Scala in Milan and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, to the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House.
Their first record (Vivaldi's Four Seasons) was awarded the Venice 'Premio Cini' and the 'Choc de la Musique' in France and was soon followed by a number of other awards including five Diapasons d’Or, Diapason d’Or de l’Année in France, the RTL Prize, 'Record of the Year' nominations in many countries, and the 'Prix du Disque ffff' by the French cultural review Telerama. In 2006 their recording of Vivaldi's opera ‘Bajazet’ was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Fabio Biondi's musical development, taking in both the universal repertoire plus the rediscovering of minor composers, includes three centuries of music. This is illustrated in his varied discography: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Corelli's Concerti Grossi, the oratorios, serenatas and operas of Alessandro Scarlatti (La Messa di Natale, Clori, Dorino e Amore, Massimo Puppieno and Il trionfo dell'onore) Handel's operas (Poro), and the 18th Century Italian violin repertoire (Veracini, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini) as well as sonatas by Bach, Schubert and Schumann.
Fabio Biondi embodies the perpetual pursuit of style, free from dogmatism and he remains intent in his quest for the original language. It is due to this very same approach that he is able to collaborate as soloist and conductor with such a vast spectrum of orchestras, including the Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the European Baroque Orchestra, the Opera of Halle, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Norway, the Orchestre Nationale of Montpellier, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, to name but a few.
Fabio Biondi also performs in duo with piano, harpsichord or forte-piano in prestigious venues around the world including the Cité de la musique in Paris, Hogi Hall in Tokyo, Auditorium Nacional in Madrid and the Wigmore Hall in London.
Since March 2005 Fabio Biondi has taken on the role of artistic director for Baroque music of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.
This season Fabio Biondi will conduct the Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Orquesta Cuidad de Granada, the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
In 2011 he was elevated to the position of Academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Fabio Biondi plays an Andrea Guarneri Violin (Cremona, 1686). He also plays a 1766 Carlo Ferdinando Gagliano Violin, owned by his teacher Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero Foundation in Palermo.
February 2012
Top
