With its distinctive sound and diverse repertoire, Il Giardino Armonico is one of today’s most notable Baroque ensembles. Colourful, individualistic and stylish, it was founded by Luca Pianca (lute and theorbo) and Giovanni Antonini (flute) in 1985 and has remained essentially Italian in character, though its members, all specialists in playing period instruments, include graduates from leading music colleges around Europe.

Regular appearances and tours in Europe, America and Japan have won them an enthusiastic international following and their recordings have garnered numerous awards. The group’s musical focus is the Italian repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries and, depending on the demands of individual programmes, it brings together between three and twenty-six musicians.

In this film, Il Giardino Armonico features Pianca and Antonini, Enrico Onofri and Marco Bianchi (violin), Paolo Beschi (cello) and Luca Guglielmi (harpsichord). They play pieces by Castello, Spadi, Marini, Merula and Vivaldi. Recorded specially for television in Sicily, in a variety of evocative locations around Palermo, strikingly set and lit for the ensemble’s performances, this film reflects Il Giardino Armonico’s dynamic approach to music-making in its use of video techniques: Baroque music for a 21th century audience.

Get your baroque funk done! It’s available on DVD.

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