I Solisti Italiani

I Solisti Italiani functioned as a compact chamber string ensemble of roughly a dozen musicians, recognized above all for its animated accounts of Baroque and Classical literature. Extensive attention went to Vivaldi in both concert and recording projects, while nearly equal focus was given to Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Rossini. The players also maintained a pronounced commitment to twentieth-century repertoire, earning particular notice for a collection of film-score excerpts by Walton, Shostakovich, Herrmann, Morricone, and other leading composers in that domain.

The ensemble arose as a direct offshoot of the larger I Virtuosi di Roma, which ceased activity in 1979 after the death of its director of thirty years, Renato Fasano. From this dissolution emerged two successor groups, one taking the name I Nuovi Virtuosi di Roma and the other becoming I Solisti Italiani. The latter quickly secured prominent engagements on major stages worldwide and was often likened to its disbanded predecessor. A defining trait was the decision to appear consistently without a conductor.

Its New York debut took place in 1986 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where a program of Vivaldi, Mozart, Rossini, Bartók, and Britten received strong commendation in The New York Times. Early Denon recordings issued around the same time likewise attracted favorable notice; the 1986 release of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, buoyed by strong public response, was reissued in 1993.

Recording activity reached its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, producing a series of well-received Denon discs that concentrated on core repertoire. Multiple volumes featured Vivaldi, while single releases were devoted to Rossini, Corelli, and Mendelssohn. The 1996 film-music anthology proved especially popular, presenting excerpts from Herrmann’s Psycho, Walton’s Henry V, three Shostakovich scores—Hamlet, The Gadfly, and Five Days and Five Nights—and additional selections. I Solisti Italiani disbanded in 2000.