Sergio Azzolini
A dazzling personality, he is a real phenomenon on the bassoon. A fantastic, virtuoso musician, Sergio Azzolini was born in Bolzano, close to the Austrian border, in 1967. It was there that he started to learn the bassoon, which he would later master in Hanover with Klaus Thunemann. At the same time, he became the solo bassoonist for the European Community Youth Orchestra. Passionate about his instrument and its different historical incarnations, he would collect bassoons from all different eras, moving from one to the other with stunning facility, depending on what music he is performing.
Much sought-after by baroque ensembles, he regularly plays with Christophe Coin's Baroque Ensemble of Limoges, but also with the Aura Soave from Cremona, the Sonatori della Gioiosa Marca, and Cologne's La Stravaganza. Sergio Azzolini is also a conductor and has directed a number of lyrical productions such as La Fida ninfa by Vivaldi, Galuppi's Nozze di Dorina, Montezuma by Graun and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. With his unkempt hair, his shapeless suits and his prodigious virtuosity, the Italian musician gives to the bassoon, normally such a low-profile instrument, a front-rank role, moving, exuberant and poetic.
Antonio Vivaldi certainly got it right when he wrote nearly 50 concertos for this instrument, bringing out all of its deep melancholy. What's more, half of this body of work is in a minor key, itself a rare thing in the music of the generally-optimistic Red Priest. Sergio Azzolini and the Cremonan ensemble L’Aura Soave, have recorded all of these works for NAÏVE. The first volumes which have been released so far paint a Vivaldi with a great expressive depth.
Sergio Azzolini has other surprises up his sleeve as well: two albums dedicated to the Concertos of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, one of the 18th Century's most enchanting, and most troubled composers. Another marvel is Mozart's Concerto for Bassoon in B-flat Major. Mocking and exquisite in its first movement, the bassoon becomes harrowing in the andante which follows, before inviting the listener to a dance in the final rondo, in the form of a minuet. It is said that Mozart wrote several concertos which are lost today. Surely it is time to set things right in the libraries... The performance that Sergio Azzolini gives on an authentic instrument from Mozart's lifetime (1790) creates a velvety sound very close to the human voice.
Sergio Azzolini regularly plays with clarinettist Sabine Meyer's Bläserensemble, the Trio Maurice Bourgue and several other groups who use period instruments. He teaches bassoon and chamber music at the Basel Academy of Music.
François Hudry/QOBUZ/November 2017
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Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto V
Sergio Azzolini, L'Onda Armonica
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 16 Apr 2021
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi : Concerti per fagotto
Sergio Azzolini, L'aura Soave Cremona
Concertos for wind instruments - Released by naïve classique on 10 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi : Concerti per fagotto IV
Sergio Azzolini, L'Onda Armonica
Concertos for wind instruments - Released by naïve on 6 Nov 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto II
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 24 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto III
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 19 Nov 2012
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto e oboe
Sergio Azzolini, Sonatori De La Gioiosa Marca, Hans Peter Westermann
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 15 Jun 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Soave Sia Il Vento (Mozart. Chamber Music for Winds and Strings)
Ensemble Midtvest, Sergio Azzolini
Classical - Released by Musica Novantiqua on 1 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, W.F. Bach & C.P.E. Bach: Trios for Oboe, Bassoon & Piano
Sergio Azzolini, Maurice Bourgue, Kimiko Imani
Classical - Released by Sony Classical - Sony Music on 13 Jul 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
C.P.E. Bach: Bassoon Music / Werke für Fagott
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 29 Aug 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Skalkottas: Sonata concertante, AK 67
Sergio Azzolini, Wolfgang Watzinger
Chamber Music - Released by SWR Classic Archive on 12 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Con spirito (Johann Wilhelm Hertel)
Concertos - Released by Tudor on 2 Jun 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Michael Haydn: Bassoon Concerto & Serenade
Classical - Released by Sony Music Classical Local on 25 Aug 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Christoph Graupner: Fagott- und Violinkonzerte
Sergio Azzolini, Christian Leitherer, Friedemann Wezel, Ensemble il capriccio
Classical - Released by Carus on 1 Dec 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fasch: Concertos
Hans Peter Westermann, Veronika Skuplik, Alessandro Pique, Sergio Azzolini, La Stravaganza, Koln
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Feb 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Graupner: Bassoon Cantatas
Classical - Released by CPO on 30 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kozeluch: Concertos and Symphony
Sergio Azzolini, Camerata Rousseau, Leonardo Muzii
Classical - Released by Sony Classical - Sony Music on 19 Feb 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Reichenauer: Concertos. Music from 18th Century Prague
Sergio Azzolini, Xenia Löffler, Lenka Torgersen, Václav Luks, Collegium 1704
Classical - Released by SUPRAPHON a.s. on 22 Feb 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann: Trio Sonatas
Sergio Azzolini, Parnassi Musici
Chamber Music - Released by CPO on 17 Jun 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kozeluch: Concertos and Symphony
Sergio Azzolini, Camerata Rousseau, Leonardo Muzii
Classical - Released by Sony Classical - Sony Music on 19 Feb 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bassoon Concertos (20Th Century) - Villa-Lobos, H. / Hindemith, P. / Jolivet, A. / Gubaidulina, S.
Sergio Azzolini, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Matthias Höfs, Vida Izadi, Maurice Bourgue, Tomoko Takahashi
Classical - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il fagotto virtuoso : Sonate italiane del s. XVIII
Sergio Azzolini, Davide Pozzi, Ai Ikeda, L'aura Soave Cremona
Chamber Music - Released by MV Cremona on 8 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo