Il Giardino Armonico

Il Giardino Armonico is an award-winning period-instrument ensemble specializing in Baroque music. The ensemble has teamed with top soloists in concert and on recordings, and is the orchestra for many historical performance operas. Beginning in 2014, in an effort to record a complete cycle of Haydn's symphonies by 2032 (the 300th anniversary year of the composer's birth), Il Giardino Armonico launched the Haydn2032 project on the Alpha label. Two volumes of this cycle were issued in 2021. Il Giardino Armonico was founded in Milan in 1985 by Giovanni Antonini, who has served as the ensemble's conductor since 1989. With a flexible membership depending on the repertoire being performed, Il Giardino Armonico is able to perform chamber, symphonic, and operatic repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble is a frequent guest at festivals and concert halls around the world. It has performed many of the operas by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Handel, including a 2012 Salzburg run with mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli of Handel's Giulio Cesare. Il Giardino Armonico has performed with an esteemed list of soloists, including cellist Christophe Coin, violinist Viktoria Mullova, and pianist duo Katia and Marielle Labèque. Il Giardino Armonico is perhaps best known for its extensive, award-winning recording catalog, which began with the 1989 Nuova Era album Vivaldi: Concerti di Camera. Signed to an exclusive deal with the Teldec label in 1991, Il Giardino Armonico gained wide recognition from audiences and critics alike. The group has earned all of the major recording awards, including 13 Diapason d’Or awards, four Gramophone awards, and a Grammy Award for The Vivaldi Album, with Bartoli. Signing with the Alpha label, Il Giardino Armonico began its Haydn2032 series in 2014 with La Passione. The ensemble teamed with Bartoli again in 2019 for the album Farinelli, which garnered a Grammy nomination. Volumes nine (L'Addio) and ten (Les Heures du Jour) of the Haydn2032 series were issued in 2021.