Salvatore Accardo

Salvatore Accardo's unfussy but highly skilled technique has won him praise as the most celebrated Italian violinist of his generation. He is acclaimed as the foremost interpreter of Niccolò Paganini with a canon of recordings that covers the entire range of the composer's works. Among his most revered releases are 'Variations On Nel Cor Più Non Mi Sento' for solo violin in 1972 and 'E minor No. 6', which he performed live on Italian television in 1974.

Having picked up a violin at the age of three, he began music lessons at a very young age and studied with Luigi d'Ambrosio at the Naples Conservatory and Yvonne Astruc in Siena. He made his professional debut playing Paganini aged 13 and came first at the Geneva Competition aged 15. In 1958, he won the Paganini Competition in Genoa and confirmed his breakout status with a 1960 recording of 'Tchaikovsky Concerto' followed by Lalo's 'Symphonie Espagnole' in 1963.

Accardo formed the Italian Chamber Orchestra in 1968, founded the Cremona String Festival in 1971, for five years directed and played chamber music with I Musici, and established the Accardo String Quartet. Active as a teacher, he gives masterclasses at the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona and he continues to perform.