Gennari Rinaldo

Fabio Biondi (born March 15, 1961) is an Italian violinist and conductor.
Born in Palermo, Sicily, Biondi began his international career at the age of 12 playing a concerto with the RAI Symphony Orchestra. When he was 16, he performed Bach's violin concertos at the Musikverein in Vienna. Since then, he has performed with a number of baroque ensembles including La Capella Reial, Musica Antiqua Wien, Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre. In 1989 Biondi founded Europa Galante, an Italian ensemble specializing in baroque music, that he directs.

"Vintage Vivaldi‚ buoyant and irresistible.
Three serenatas by Vivaldi survive (he is known to have composed at least eight)‚ of which La Senna festeggiante is by far the most enjoyable…One of the work’s most interesting features is Vivaldi’s deliberate use in places of elements of French style‚ for instance in the solemn ‘ouvertur’ which opens Part 2 and the courtly minuet of The Golden Age’s second aria‚ thereby adding to the richness of a work which for the most part is vintage Vivaldi at his most buoyant and irresistible. Those who like to mark his vocal writing down as ‘instrumental’ will nod knowingly at the veering melodic lines of The Seine’s ‘L’alta lor gloria immortale’‚ but overall the music flows with pleasing naturalness‚ simple but effective characterisation…Rinaldo Alessandrini directs an exemplary performance‚ paying as much attention to the details of this sycophantic creation as if it really meant something‚ and‚ as he does so often‚ maintaining the music’s energy and interest without drawing undue attention to himself. The three soloists sing with brightness‚ verve and technical agility‚ the orchestra is assured‚ and all are served by a clear and natural recorded sound. A delight all round."

Monteverdi was only 23 when he published his Second Book of Madrigals in 1590, but he was already a master of the form, and these contrapuntally lively pieces, with their supple and astute text setting, are crowning works of late Renaissance secular polyphony. With this release of the Second Book, Rinaldo Alessandrini moves closer to his goal of recording all of Monteverdi's eight Books of Madrigals, performed by Concerto Italiano, the ensemble he founded in 1984. The series has received much-deserved critical acclaim; three of the releases won Gramophone Awards, and this 1994 recording won a Diapason d'Or. Concerto Italiano is a group whose roster is flexible, based on the requirements of the music performed, and here seven unaccompanied singers configure themselves in a variety of combinations in the five-part madrigals.