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Le sicilien a plus d’une corde à son archet. Violoniste, soliste précoce et chef d’orchestre, Fabio Biondi est une véritable star du violon baroque. Après une formation classique dès son enfance, il se dirige rapidement vers les répertoires anciens. Il enchaîne ses premiers concerts en tant que soliste. Agé seulement de seize ans, le jeune violoniste est invité à jouer en soliste les concertos de Bach à la Musikvereine. Très attiré par le violon baroque, il collabore alors avec les prestigieuses formations de Marc Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe, Gérard Lesne ou encore Jordi Savall. Il créé d’abord le Quatuor Stendhal en 1981, devient professeur au Conservatoire de Parme et en 1990, Biondi créé son propre orchestre qu’il dirige de son violon. L’Europa Galante composé d’une quinzaine de musiciens révolutionne l’approche de la musique baroque en s’attachant toujours à la quintessence de l’œuvre. Si Vivaldi est le cœur de ses recherches et interprétations, le violoniste a pour ambition de faire revivre l’ensemble du répertoire italien baroque : Scarlatti, Tartini, Caldara, et bien d’autres. Son ensemble aux interprétations toujours dynamiques est présent dans de prestigieuses salles sur tous les continents. Il acquiert une réputation internationale et est appelé à diriger de nombreux orchestres parmi lesquels l’Opéra de Nice, l’Orchestre de chambre de Zurich ou encore le Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Some say that you have to reach a great maturity before daring to attack it. For her first solo album, Anna Göckel assumes with great temperament her choice to record one of the founding texts of the violin repertoire: Sonatas and Partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Composed in 1720, the ‘violinist’s bible’ has undergone a thousand and one transformations since then.David Grimal tackles the supreme masterpiece of the solo violin repertory for the third time, with his Stradivarius strung with pure gut strings and a Baroque bow by Nicolas Pierre Tourte (1740).

David Grimal performs in the world’s leading venues, including Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Vienna Musikverein, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Zurich Tonhalle, Lincoln Center in New York, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Ferenc Liszt Academy in Budapest, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the National Concert Hall in Taiwan and Bozar in Brussels.

Newly signed to the naïve label, violinist Fabio Biondi, the celebrated founder and director of Europa Galante, here presents his interpretation of one of the major peaks of the solo violin repertoire: the Sonatas and Partitas of J. S. Bach.

Nathan Milstein is widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century and was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period. He was also known for the longevity of his career – his artistry remained at a remarkably high standard up to retirement, and Milstein’s Deutsche Grammophon recordings, made at the end of his career, perfectly capture an artist who remained at his peak well into his 80s.

Lovingly long, smooth and slowly drawn, the quietly subdued broken G minor chord with which Augustin Hadelich opens his Bach Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas is of a showstopping beauty and distinctiveness that's rarely heard so immediately and unmistakably in recordings of this Everest of the violin repertoire

Of the Franco-Belgian school, Arthur Grumiaux is considered to have been one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century. In his relatively short life his achievements were superb. He brought to performances guaranteed technical command, faithfulness to the composer's intent, and sensitivity toward the intricate delineations of musical structure. His fame was built upon extraordinary violin concerto performances and chamber-music appearances with his own Grumiaux Trio. Grumiaux was born in Villers-Perwin, Belgium, in 1921, to a working-class family, and it was his grandfather who urged him to begin music studies at the age of 4. He trained on violin and piano with the Fernand Quintet at the Charleroi Conservatory, where he took first prize at the age of 11.

Lovingly long, smooth and slowly drawn, the quietly subdued broken G minor chord with which Augustin Hadelich opens his Bach Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas is of a showstopping beauty and distinctiveness that's rarely heard so immediately and unmistakably in recordings of this Everest of the violin repertoire