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
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Vivaldi & Bach: Violin Concertos
Accademia Bizantina, Carlo Chiarappa
Klassiek - Released by Denon on 20 okt. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: The Art of Fugue
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 20 okt. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Sinfonia
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Organ Concertos, Op.4
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cesti: La Dori
Opera - Released by CPO on 8 jan. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
O Solitude
Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Harpsichord Concertos
Ottavio Dantone, Accademia Bizantina
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A. Scarlatti: Il Giardino di Rose
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Concertos for Harpsichord & Violin
Stefano Montanari, Ottavio Dantone, Marco Frezzato, Accademia Bizantina
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione op. VIII - Vol. 1
Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 1 mei 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Quis est homo (from Stabat Mater in F Minor, RV 621)
Andreas Scholl, Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina
Klassiek - Released by Naive on 12 jan. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arias for Senesino (Bonus Track Version)
Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 aug. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Seicento Italiano (Kapsberger, Trabaci, Marini, etc.)
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 1 jan. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Concertos for Harpsichord & Violin
Stefano Montanari, Ottavio Dantone, Accademia Bizantina
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi con moto
Giuliano Carmignola, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Archiv Produktion on 12 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: The Fairy Queen
New English Voices, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Opera - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 10 nov. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi, Estro Armonico - Concerto Op. 3 N. 10 - Allegro
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Divers - Released by Hdb Sonus on 3 mrt. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Il Cimento Dell'Armonia E Dell'Inventione, Op. VIII, Vol. 2
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Stefano Montanari, Paolo Grazzi
Klassiek - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 1 mei 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Serse, HWV 40: Act I, Scene 1. "Rec. Acc. Frondi tenere, e belle" Aria. "Ombra mai fu" (Serse)
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Arianna Vendittelli
Klassiek - Released by Hdb Sonus on 13 mei 2022
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Arcadia
Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 26 okt. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concert No. 5
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone, Alessandro Tampieri
Klassiek - Released by Hdb Sonus on 18 nov. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo