Giovanni Pintori

The eleventh volume of the complete HAYDN2032 symphony cycle moves its focus to Paris: ‘Every day one perceives more clearly, and consequently admires more, the productions of this great genius, who, in every one of his works, knows so well how to draw rich and varied developments from a single subject’, wrote the Mercure de France in April 1788, adding that Haydn was ‘quite different from those sterile composers who constantly move from one idea to another’. The symphonies presented here are no.2 (the first to be published in France), no.24 (the first to be performed there) and the so-called ‘Paris’ symphonies nos. 87 and 82 ‘L’Ours’, with its references to fairground atmosphere and its famous contredanse finale.

Giovanni Sollima is an internationally renowned cellist and one of the most frequently performed Italian composers in the world today. His original BaRock Cello project gave new readings to Rock pieces in the intimate setting of a solo performance, matching these to little-known 17th- and 18th-century Italian composers. These improbable contrasts and surprising connections are now extended further back to their musical roots in Folk & Ba-Rock Cello. In this Sollima takes up the tonal colours and rhythmic grooves of archaic songs from a diversity of countries and blends the common features shared by all music, whether it is globally iconic, nationally popular, or long lost amidst the dusty manuscripts of time.

Giovanni Mazzocchin was born in Bassano del Grappa (VI) in 1994. He was admitted at the 'Pedrollo' Conservatory in Vicenza in 2007, where he studied with Marco Tezza. He graduated in five years with the highest marks, praise and special mention, playing a program which included the J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations and the Beethoven' most difficult sonata, the "Hammerklavier". In the meantime he also attended masterclasses with Carlo Grante, Filippo Gamba, Massimiliano Ferrati, Alexander Madzar and Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy, who particularly appreciated the his performance of Chopin and Liszt. Starting 2015 he recorded: Beethoven's Late Piano Sonatas, Opus 101 & 106 + Opus 109, 110, 111 (OnClassical OC145CSET), Diabelli Variations Op. 120 + Bagatelles Op. 126 (OnClassical OC17072c); J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (OnClassical OC17042b). Giovanni is currently attending the faculty of Computer Science at the University of Padova, where he completed his three-year degree.

Giovanni Antonini and his ensemble Il Giardino Armonico celebrate the composer who made them famous: Antonio Vivaldi. Their recordings of The Four Seasons and Cecilia Bartoli's famous first Vivaldi recital left an indelible mark on the discography of the Red-haired Priest! Their musical fireworks display continues with a programme of concertos that is bound to provoke strong reactions, since it is the result of a meeting with a musician who is equally adept at shifting boundaries, the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Together they have devised a programme entitled WHAT'S NEXT VIVALDI?, which interweaves ultra-virtuosic concertos by Vivaldi (Il Grosso Mogul RV 208, La Tempesta di Mare (for violin!) RV 253, and RV 157, 191, 550 among others) with, between each concerto, short pieces written by much more recent composers, Luca Francesconi, Simone Movio, Giacinto Scelsi, Aureliano Cattaneo and Giovanni Sollima, and mostly commissioned by Patricia Kopatchinskaja especially for this programme.

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) is one of the most original italian composers of the first half of the eighteenth century. Born in Naples the same year as two other icons, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, Scarlatti's enormous output includes 555 surviving keyboard sonatas, and can be considered an encyclopedia of literature of all time for its vastness, invention, and variety of writing.

For her first collaboration with the period ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, violinist Isabelle Faust performs the five Violin Concertos of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, along with three shorter concertante works. This is an extraordinary set, for the historically informed performances, the polished sound of the group, the almost palpable presence of the players, which Harmonia Mundi has captured with superior engineering, and for the unrepressed joy in the music. Faust is the center of attention, naturally, and her refined and expressive playing immediately pulls the listener in. These are far from the most demanding concertos in the repertoire, so Faust is less concerned with technical execution than with conveying the pure feeling of the music, which is delightfully buoyant and uplifting. Under the direction of Giovanni Antonini, the group provides warm and sparkling accompaniment that gives Faust all the support she needs, but there's no doubt that she sets the emotional tone for these exquisite recordings. Highly recommended, especially for devotees of Classical style at its finest.

Giovanni Marradi is a composer, pianist, arranger and television presenter. He is the son of Italian trumpeter and conductor Alfredo Marradi; his great-grandfather, also named Giovanni Marradi, was a poet and composer. Marradi began playing piano at age five, and three years later was sent to study composition and technique with Michael Cheskinov at the Russian Conservatory. As a young adult, he played throughout Europe and the Middle East, but his dream was to come to the U.S. to pursue his music career. After arriving in California as an Italian immigrant, Marradi played small concerts in Southern California and was asked to perform at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. While performing on stage, an entertainer took notice of this young talent and a long lasting friendship developed. That entertainer was Frank Sinatra. The two became close friends and Sinatra mentored Marradi throughout the years.