Vittorio Ghielmi

Viola da gamba

The Salzburg Festival 2024
Mozart. Don Giovanni
Bach. St Matthew Passion

A renowned viola da gamba player, director, and composer, whose virtuosity has been praised by critics. Ghielmi has revolutionized the viola da gamba through his unique instrumental approach, bringing new life to baroque repertoire. He leads the Il Suonar Parlante Orchestra, collaborating with musicians across diverse genres, including Gustav Leonhardt, Cecilia Bartoli, and András Schiff.

Why do you love your instrument?

The viola da gamba is an extremely complex instrument, boasting a vast repertoire and inexhaustible expressive possibilities. It’s often likened to a champion horse: when you master and trust it, it can carry you to victory in any musical competition. However, if you disrespect it (by being too weak or too forceful) it will rebel, leaving you behind.

A song that you love for the lyrics?

Napule by Pino Daniele.

What was the most memorable case during your teaching work?

Once a young lady, who was struggling with her bow technique, started breathing correctly and deeply. Suddenly, she stopped playing, began to weep like a child, then picked up her bow again. The sound that emerged was completely different: ten times deeper, fuller, brighter, and more beautiful. I know the power of these methods, which I’ve been using for years, but witnessing the effects firsthand is always deeply moving.

How should  a perfect day start?

Composers from “transitional” periods, such as those marking the end of the 17th and 18th centuries in France, often present unique challenges for modern audiences. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, for example, is a prime illustration of a composer whose music is both too complex for contemporary taste and insufficiently understood.

Which composers do you believe are unjustly neglected?

Calmness. Birdsong.