VIOLIN

Acclaimed as one of the most versatile and popular Swiss violinists of his generation, also supported by the “Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation”, Manrico Padovani is described by “The Strad” Magazine as “Violin Hero”. After his debut at the „Lucerne Festival” and at the „Stadtcasino” Basel, he performed all over Europe, in America and in Asia in concert Halls such as “Wiener Musikverein”, “Alte Oper Frankfurt”, “Ohji Hall” Tokio, “Kultur- e Kongresszentrum” Lucerne, “Philharmonie” in Cologne, “Smetana Hall” Prague etc. with orchestras like the „Stuttgarter Philharmoniker“, the “Prague Philharmonic Orchestra”, the „Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Moscow”, the „Sinfonia Varsovia”, the „Südwestdeutsche Philarmonie“, the „Akademische Staatskapelle St. Petersburg“, the „Radio Sinfonie Orchester Basel“, the „Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana“, the „Stadtorchester Winterthur” the „Regina Symphony Orchestra“, the “North-Czech Philharmonic”, the „Güri Philharmonic Orchestra Seoul” etc. under the batons of conductors like
B. Perrenoud, R. Barshai, M. Viotti, A. Boreiko, H. Griffiths, M. Andreae, J. Lü,  C. Olivieri-Munroe and P. Altrichter.

“Forceful lyricist”, „Enchanting, bewitching violin”, „A rising star”, „Devil’s fiddler”, “Wizard of the violin” are only a few of the words used by the critics to describe the emotions stirred up by Manrico Padovani during his performances distinguished by a breathtaking skill united to rhythmic tension and an exceptional mastery of the instrument.

Born in Zürich to parents of Italian origin he studied in the Masterclasses of Aida Stucki-Piraccini in Winterthur, great violinist and great teacher who decisively influenced him, and Herman Krebbers in Amsterdam. R. Ricci, F. Gulli, V. Pikaizen, B. Belkin, D. Zsygmondy and K.H. Stockhausen also influenced his playing. Manrico Padovani won a wide range of prizes a.o. at the „Vienna International Music Competition”, at „Ruggiero Ricci’s International Master Competition” in Berlin, at the „Accademia Chigiana” in Siena, the „Swiss Youth Music Festival Prize“, three times the „Kiefer-Hablitzel Prize“ of the Swiss Musicians‘ Association, as well as awards from the “Julius Bär” and the “Schuler” Foundations. The important „Jubilee prize” of the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) was also among his awards. Manrico Padovani is the first swiss violinist who performed live in concert the complete cycle of the 24 caprices op. 1 for violin solo by N. Paganini.

In spring 2011 he was with Anne-Sophie Mutter and her group “Mutter’s Virtuosi” on Europa-Tour, playing as soloist and chamber music with his famous mentor.

Moreover he was also awarded in 2011 with the “Artist Prize” from the “Aargauer Kuratorium” (Switzerland). Beside the already published recordings on CD and DVD (a.o. violin concertos by Brahms, Beethoven, Prokofjew nr. 1, Paganini nr. 1), new releases on DVD and CD will include live performances in Vienna (Solo Recital), Prague (New Years concert with Prague Philharmonic) and in Seoul (with Seoul Güri Philharmonic Orchetra). Manrico Padovani was also invited for a recording of the soundtrack for Eric Bernasconi’s feature film, Sinestesia, which was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010.

Highlight of the past season was a.o. the concert for the Pope Benedict XVI at the Sala Nervi in Vaticano together with the outstanding Russian-Greek violinist Natasha Korsakova. This event took place in connection with the Foundation “Sorella Natura” (Italy), where he is acting as Testimonial. In this saison he will perform and having collaborations and crossover-projects with Spanish popstars.

He will also give first performances of works by Thomas Fortmann, specially written for him.

Manrico Padovani plays on the Stradivarius “Nachez” made in 1716, on loan from a famous private collection.