Il Giardino Armonico

“The Good Garden”: the name of the period instrument ensemble Il Giardino Armonico could not be better suited to the Festival theme “Paradise.” Founded in 1985 and directed by Giovanni Antonini, it is dedicated primarily to works of the 17th and 18th centuries, which — depending on the program — are performed by six to thirty musicians. They regularly guest at the world’s most important festivals and are invited to appear in famous international concert halls. Operas and oratorios are also part of Il Giardino Armonico’s repertoire, including such works as Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa, and Handel’s Agrippina, Il trionfo del Tempo, La Resurrezione, and Giulio Cesare in Egitto. The ensemble has released numerous award-winning CDs, including Handel’s Concerti grossi; The Vivaldi Album, Sacrificium, and Farinelli, all with Cecilia Bartoli; and Alleluia and Händel in Italy with Julia Lezhneva. It received the International Classical Music Award in 2016 for Serpent and Fire with Anna Prohaska and the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’or, and Le Choc de l’année in 2017 for the Mozart Violin Concertos with Isabelle Faust. The long-term project Haydn 2032, featuring all of the composer’s symphonies, has already received numerous awards for its first 13 releases, including the German Record Critics’ Prize, the Edison Award, and the ffff Télérama, and has been selected a “Choix de l’année France Musique.” Through the Accademia Il Giardino Armonico, the ensemble also presents master classes that prepare instrumentalists for the historically informed performance of Baroque works.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 31 August 1993 in a program of works by Vivaldi, Castello, Scarlatti, and Sammartini.

July 2023