Phillips Salvatore Accardo

Of Grieg’s seventy-four published works, only five are for chamber music, and no less than three of these are Violin Sonatas. His favourite instrument was the piano, but the influence of Norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull (1810-1880), patron of young Edvard’s career, was enormous. Grieg confessed to considering the Violin Sonatas among his best works, each representing a different phase in his development: ‘the first a little naive, but rich in ideas, the second Nordic, and the third with a broader horizon’, he wrote to his friend Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. The composer’s connection to his homeland, Norway, was very deep.

Concerti (8) per violino? With a different title, this disc could do well. Why shouldn't it? In Salvatore Accardo, it has the best Italian violinist of the past 50 years. In I Musici, it has the best Italian chamber orchestra of the past 50 years. And, of course, in Antonio Vivaldi it has the most popular Italian composer of instrumental music of all time.