Giovanni Antonini
© David Ellis / Decca
About
The established conductor Giovanni Antonini is well-known for his interpretation of baroque and classical repertoire.
Born in Milan, he studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica and at the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. In 2013, he becomes Artistic Director of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland.
Giovanni is a founder member of the baroque ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, which he has led since 1989. With this ensemble he has appeared as conductor and soloist on the recorder and baroque transverse flute in Europe, United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Japan and Malaysia. He has performed with many prestigious artists including Cecilia Bartoli, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Isabel Faust, Christophe Coin, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Viktoria Mullova and Giuliano Carmignola.
Giovanni’s achievements have led him to be in great demand as a guest conductor with many of the leading orchestras. He is a regular guest with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Concertgebouworkest, Tonhalle Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchester and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2012/13 season Giovanni conducts the ConcertgebouwOrkest, Staatskapelle Berlin, Bayerischen Rundfunks Symphony Orchestra Munich, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Lyon, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Spanish National Orchestra, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and will conduct Bellini’s Norma at Salzburg Festival. He continues his successful collaboration with the Kammerorchester Basel and with Il Giardino Armonico he performs throughout Europe including tours with soprano Julia Lezhneva.
Giovanni’s opera productions have included Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Handel’s Alcina at La Scala, Handel’s Acis, Galatea e Polifemo in Vienna and Salzburg, and Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Salzburg Festival with Cecilia Bartoli. With il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni has recorded numerous CDs of instrumental works by Vivaldi (including The Four Seasons), other 17th and 18th Century Italian composers, J.S. Bach (Brandenburg Concertos), Biber and Locke for Teldec.
Their CD with Viktoria Mullova (Vivaldi’s Violin Concertos) won the prestigious Diapason d’Or 2005 for baroque instrumental music. Il Giardino Armonico now has a contract with Decca and their most recent recording of Vivaldi’s opera Ottone in villa for Naïve was released in Autumn 2010. With Kammerorchester Basel, Giovanni is recording all Beethoven’s Symphonies for Sony, with symphonies 1-5 already released.