I Solisti Italiani
I Solisti Italiani was a chamber string orchestra consisting of about 12 players, known particularly for its spirited readings of works from the Baroque and Classical periods. The group performed and recorded much Vivaldi and devoted nearly as much effort to the works of Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Rossini. They were strongly identified with the music of the 20th century as well, having had particular success with a recording of film score excerpts by Walton, Shostakovich, Herrmann, Morricone, and other notables in the genre.
I Solisti Italiani began, like many instrumental ensembles, as an offshoot of a larger one. The popular chamber orchestra I Virtuosi di Roma disbanded in 1979 upon the death of its leader of three decades, Renato Fasano. The "disbanding" process was more of a metamorphosis, for the players split into two groups, one forming I Nuovi Virtuosi di Roma and the other becoming I Solisti Italiani. The latter had nearly immediate success, scoring numerous triumphs on the world's concert stages and quickly drawing comparisons with its defunct parent group. I Solisti Italiani was remarkable for performing without a conductor.
I Solisti Italiani gave its New York debut in 1986 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, drawing high praise from The New York Times in a program of Vivaldi, Mozart, Rossini, Bartók, and Britten. Around this time, I Solisti Italiani's earliest recordings were also scoring critical successes. Among them was the 1986 Denon release of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which, because of its popularity, gained a second life in a rerelease in 1993.
The late 1980s and early 1990s were I Solisti Italiani's busiest time in the recording studio, as it turned out a spate of well-received discs, all on Denon, and mostly in its bread-and-butter repertory: there were several albums of music by Vivaldi, and single issues by Rossini, Corelli, and Mendelssohn, as well as others. Perhaps the group's most popular album from this period was the 1996 release of film music that contained excerpts from Herrmann's Psycho, Walton's Henry V, a trio of Shostakovich scores -- Hamlet, The Gadfly, and Five Days and Five Nights -- and several others. I Solisti Italiani disbanded in 2000.
© Robert Cummings /TiVo
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Discography
14 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Celebrated Baroque Pieces
Classical - Released by 429 Records on Jan 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini & Donizetti: Sonatas and String Quartets
Gaetano Donizetti, I Solisti Italiani, Gioachino Rossini
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-Flat Major Op. 20, Sinfonias Nos. 6 & 10
Felix Mendelssohn, I Solisti Italiani
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi & Piazzolla: Seasons
Takashi Baba, I Solisti Italiani
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Il Cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventone (Vol.1), Concerti Op. 8, Nos. 1 - 6
Takashi Baba, I Solisti Italiani
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: "La Cetra" 12 Concerti, Op. 9
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Il Cimento dell'Armonia e dell'Inventione (Vol. II), Concerti Op. 8, Nos. 7-12
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: 5 Concerti
Takashi Baba, I Solisti Italiani
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: 6 Violin Concerti, Op. 6
Takashi Baba, I Solisti Italiani
Classical - Released by Denon on Jul 29, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: 12 Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Solisti Italiani (Gli strumenti delle Triennali di Cremona)
Miscellaneous - Released by Phoenix Classics on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Glory of Music in Venice
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Solisti Italiani On Cinema
Classical - Released by Denon on Nov 19, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Concertos
Christmas Music - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo