Zefiro

Zefiro, an Italian wind ensemble devoted to period instruments, has played a key role in advancing historically informed approaches to Baroque and Classical repertoire. Oboists Alfredo Bernadini and Paolo Grazzi joined bassoonist Alberto Grazzi to establish the group in 1989, after which its activities centered on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century works for winds by Bach, Handel, Zelenka, Telemann, Haydn, and Mozart. The ensemble takes its name from the benign Greek deity of the western wind and has appeared in concerts and festivals throughout Europe while also undertaking international tours. Its recordings, issued on Astrée, Ambroisie, Naïve, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Arcana, span a wide range—from Zelenka’s trio sonatas to large-scale orchestral scores that include Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral Suites, Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, Vivaldi’s wind concertos, and Mozart’s Divertimenti, along with other pieces requiring expanded forces. Through two Ambroisie albums, Zefiro has further championed the music of overlooked figures Georg Druschetzky and Luigi Gatti.