Driven by a deep cultural curiosity, Fabio Biondi is a musician ceaselessly in pursuit of a style free from constraints. From his early development, guided by pioneers of a new approach to period performance, Biondi’s work has incorporated repertoire spanning three centuries. Biondi’s infectious curiosity and his determination to put music first mark him out in his quest for an ‘original language’, both in globally known works and in his commitment to researching and illuminating lesser-known masterpieces.
In 1990, following extensive work with specialist ensembles including Les Musiciens du Louvre and The English Concert, Biondi founded Europa Galante, an ensemble which quickly became the foremost Italian period ensemble. Biondi and his ensemble have forged a reputation for “fresh, vibrant performances” (New York Times) and breathe new life into works from the Baroque to the Classical era, performing at leading international festivals, stages and opera houses including this season with Ian Bostridge at the Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, Berlin Pierre Boulez Saal and Wiener Konzerthaus.
He brings this all-encompassing approach to major modern symphony and chamber orchestras, which he both conducts and directs from the violin, bringing a new perspective and revealing “lively musical conversations across the centuries” (Chicago Tribune). He was Artistic Director for Baroque Music at the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra for eleven years until 2016, and has conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Danish National and Chicago Symphony orchestras, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Further future highlights include returns to the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, RAI Torino, Bergen Philharmonic and Finnish Radio Symphony orchestras, Akademie für Alte Musik and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.
His broad discography on Warner Classics, Virgin Veritas and Glossa has earned Biondi numerous awards, including the Diapason d’Or de l’Année and Choc de Musique; his widely acclaimed recording with Europa Galante of Vivaldi Four Seasons was named Disc of the Year by organizations in over five countries; and he has recorded with opera stars including Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Philippe Jaroussky, Vivica Genaux and Rolando Villazón. Biondi’s passion for Classical opera, bel canto and early Verdi takes him to major houses including the Staatsoper Berlin, La Fenice, Teatro Regio di Torino and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, where he was Music Director 2015-18 and conducted productions of Donizetti, Rossini, Haydn and most recently Verdi Il Corsaro. As violinist, he is consistently respected as a virtuoso “beyond reproach” (Guardian), performing across the world with piano, harpsichord and forte-piano, including at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and Cité de la Musique.
Fabio Biondi has been an academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia since 2011 and he was named in 2015 an Officer of the National Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. He plays a 1733 Andrea Borelli (Parma) and a 1766 Carlo Ferdinando Gagliano, owned by his teacher Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero Foundation in Palermo, where he was born.
