I Solisti Veneti

The most popular italian Chamber Orchestra, “I Solisti Veneti”, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in the 2019 concert season, was founded by Claudio Scimone in 1959; under his musical direction and leadership, it quickly rose to the highest international levels of brilliance and gained the unconditional admiration of both audiences and critics, with over 6,000 concerts in over 90 Countries, participation in the most important International Festivals (over 30 concerts at the Salzburg Festival), recordings of over 350 LPs, CDs and DVDs, and a rich selection of cultural and promotional activities and of musical and historical publications.

The fiftieth anniversary of “I Solisti Veneti” in 2010 was celebrated in the Basilica of Saint Anthony, in Padua, in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic, and later on, in December 2010, with the official Christmas concert at the Italian Senate.

“I Solisti Veneti” and Claudio Scimone have obtained the highest awards in the musical field, from the Grammy Award in Los Angeles to several Grand Prix du Disque from the Charles Cros Academy in Paris and that of the Académie du Disque Lyrique, numerous Music Critics’ Awards in Italy and many others, including winning the modern music contest “Festivalbar”, thanks to the votes of 350.000 youngster. In 2008, at the La Fenice Theatre in Venice, they received from the Arthur Rubinstein Association the “Una Vita per la Musica” award which in Italy is considered like a Nobel Price for music. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2008), the European Parliament honoured “I Solisti Veneti” with an official plaque where they are praised as “Ambassadors of culture and music across the borders”. 

They have starred in several important TV recordings, including a performance of Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words” in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (directed by Ermanno Olmi), the “Vivaldi peintre de la musique” by François Reichenbach and many others. 

They have worked with the best singers and soloists of our era, among which Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras, June Anderson, Marilyn Horne, Ruggero Raimondi, Samuel Ramey, Itzhak Perlman, Sviatoslav Richter, Jean Pierre Rampal, James Galway, Salvatore Accardo, Lucio Dalla and Massimo Ranieri, to mention only a few. They have been the first Orchestra in Italy to hold concerts in primary and junior high schools, offering ad hoc programmes and presentations. 

Their long and accurate research and cultural development work has led to the publication of an important body of musicological works, in a collection called “Edizioni de I Solisti Veneti”. They succeeded in reviving in concert and in Opera hundreds of previously unknown works of the Italian musical heritage, thus revealing several great composers of the past. They also are editing the publication of Giuseppe Tartini’s complete works. Many among the most famous composers of our era, including Ennio Morricone, Bussotti, Donatoni, R. Malipiero, Halffter, Constant, De Pablo, Corghi, Guaccero, Manzoni, Cadario, De Marzi and others, among them many female composers, dedicated pieces to Claudio Scimone and “I Solisti Veneti”, which resulted in the creation of an important literature of works for 10 or more solo strings. To highlight the deep connection between Venetian music, architecture and figurative arts, they are recording a series of very important DVDs, among which are “Vivaldi’s Seasons in Palladio’s Villas” (Arthaus), “Vivaldi’s Gloria and Sacred Music in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua” (Dynamic), “Vivaldi’s Flute Concertos with James Galway in Palazzo Ducale in Venice” (Hardy Classic), Albinoni’s “Il Concilio dei Pianeti at the Sala della Ragione in Padua” (Unitel) and many others. “I Solisti Veneti” are incorporated as a non-profit organisation recognised by the Veneto Region with decree n. 381 of 23.4.1985. 

The European Parliament dedicated a plaque to "I Solisti Veneti" in which it qualified them as "extraordinary promoters of culture beyond borders".

In the name and in the sign of their founder and Conductor, dead in 2018, the Artistic Director Clementine Hoogendoorn Scimone and the Principal Conductor Giuliano Carella perpetuate the spiritual and aesthetic heritage of Maestro Claudio Scimone.