Accademia Bizantina
The Baroque orchestra Accademia Bizantina has the stated intention of "making music like a large quartet." Specializing in choral music and opera, it is among Italy's most prominent historical instrument ensembles.
A unique feature of the ensemble has been its cooperative structure; although keyboardist and conductor Ottavio Dantone has been musical and artistic director since 1996, Accademia Bizantina is managed by its collective membership, making for a sound and an organizational structure that mirror each other. The ensemble was founded in 1983 in Ravenna and was encouraged by the historically minded pianist Jörg Demus, conductor Riccardo Muti, and composer Luciano Berio, with whom it worked on a 1992 recording of his works, among others. Among the figures who shaped its vigorous and brisk style were violinist Stefano Montanari and harpsichordist Dantone; the latter joined Accademia Bizantina in 1989 and has brought to the group a perspective that includes both musicological research and interpretive imagination. Beginning with Giuseppe Sarti's Giulio Sabino in 1999, the group has had a special focus on the rediscovery of neglected Baroque operas. It maintains a busy concert schedule across Italy and worldwide.
The Berio recording was Accademia Bizantina's debut and, thus far, its only recording to feature contemporary music. It has mostly stayed within the core Baroque period, emphasizing well-trodden pieces like Vivaldi's Il Cimento dell'Armonia concertos as well as lesser-known works. In the 2010s, it has ventured as far forward chronologically as Haydn, issuing a set of historically informed Haydn symphony performances on the Decca label in 2016. The group's career on Decca began in 2004 with a recording of sinfonias and concertos of Alessandro Scarlatti, entitled Il Giardino di Rose, after an oratorio from which instrumental excerpts on the album were taken. It has also recorded for Arts Music, Naïve, Denon, and Alpha, for which it backed soprano Delphine Galou on a 2017 recording of Baroque arias, Agitata. The group has frequently been featured on Naïve's large series of albums devoted to recently rediscovered works by Vivaldi. In 2024, after a substantial pandemic pause, the group returned under conductor Alessandro Tampieri with the Neapolitan sacred music album Invocazioni Mariane.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Similar artists
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Corelli: Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Oct 27, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
A. Corelli: Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 3 in C Minor
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Jul 21, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Invocazioni Mariane
Andreas Scholl, Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina
Classical - Released by Naive on Mar 8, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Nov 11, 2022
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Concerti Grossi, Op. 3
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Dec 2, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Concerto Grosso in F Major, Op. 6 No. 12
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Aug 25, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Concerto Grosso in B-Flat Major, Op. 6 No. 11
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Oct 6, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Violin Sonatas Op. 5, Nos. 1-12
Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari, Ottavio Dantone
Chamber Music - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on Oct 3, 2005
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Serse, HWV 40
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on May 27, 2022
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: The Art of Fugue
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Oct 20, 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
O Solitude
Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Concerto Grosso in C Major, Op. 6 No. 10
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Sep 15, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: L'Estro Armonico op. 3, Vol. 1: Concertos Nos. 1-6
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: L'Estro Armonico op. 3, Vol. 2: Concertos Nos. 7-12
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn : Symphonies 78, 79, 80, 81
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Feb 5, 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Agitata
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Delphine Galou
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Sep 8, 2017
Gramophone Award24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Sebastian Bach : Sinfonia
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rinaldo (Live Recording)
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Delphine Galou
Classical - Released by Hdb Sonus on Jul 3, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antonio Vivaldi : Airs retrouvés / Arie Ritrovate (Opere teatrale, vol. 10)
Sonia Prina, Accademia Bizantina
Opera Extracts - Released by naïve classique on May 13, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alessandro Scarlatti : Concerti Grossi - Sonates pour violoncelle
Accademia Bizantina, Mauro Valli, Ottavio Dantone
Classical - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on Nov 7, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi & Bach: Violin Concertos
Accademia Bizantina, Carlo Chiarappa
Classical - Released by Denon on Oct 20, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo