Salvatore Accardo made his debut recital at the age of 13 playing, Paganini’s Capricci. Two years later, he won the Geneva Competition, and shortly after, he won the Paganini Competition in Genoa. His repertoire ranges from pre-Bach to post-Berg; composers that include Sciarrino, Donatoni, Piston, Piazzolla, Colasanti and Xenakis, all who have written pieces specifically for him.

In addition to playing with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, Accardo performs in recitals and particularly loves chamber music. In 1971, he founded the Cremona String Festival, as well as the Settimane Musicali Internazionali in Naples, where rehearsals were open to the public. In 1986, the Academia Stauffer, along with Giuranna, Filippini, and Petracchi regularly led masterclasses in Cremona, and in 1992, he founded the Accardo Quartet.

Moreover, Accardo has dedicated a portion of his activities to conducting important European and American orchestras. As a conductor, he recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. Since 1987, he has also been conducting opera, particularly in the following venues: the Rossini Festival with Ponnelle, Rome Opera House, Monte Carlo Opera, Lille, and Naples Opera House. In 1992, for the 200th anniversary of Gioachino Rossini’s birth, he conducted the first modern edition of Messa di Gloria (recorded live by Warner Fonit) at the Pesaro Festival and in Rome. He conducted this piece again in 1995 in Vienna with the Wiener Symphoniker.

Under the label Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, Accardo has recorded Paganini’s Capricci and concertos for violin with Charles Dutoit. With Philips, he has recorded several pieces, including Bach’s sonatas and partitas, works of Max Bruch, works for the orchestra by Kurt Masur,
Antonín Dvořák, concerts of Jean Sibelius with Colin Davis, Brahms and Beethoven concerts, and many more. Additionally, Accardo has recorded with ASV, Dynamic, EMI, Sony Classical, Collins Classic, and Foné. Recently, Foné re-mastered Accardo’s recordings of Mozart’s complete works for violin in 13 CDs.

In Italy, Accardo has been awarded the Abbiati Prize bestowed by Italian music critics in recognition of his exceptional standard of playing and interpreting music, along with the Italian highest honor “Cavaliere di Gran Croce”. What’s more, in 1996, the Beijing Conservatory named him “most honorable Professor”, and in 1999, he was named “Commandeur dans l’ordre du mérit culturel” in Monaco. Likewise, Accardo received the “A Life for the Music” award in 2002, and in 2017 he was awarded the Gold Medal in the Arts by the Kennedy Center of New York.

Moreover, in 1996, Accardo ‘recreated’ the Orchestra da Camera Italiana (OCI), whose members are some of the best pupils of Cremona’s Accademia Stauffer, and recorded two CDs with them: the virtuoso violin in Italy and masterpieces for violin and strings under Warner Fonit Cetra. In 1999, Accardo and OCI recorded the complete Paganini Concerti for violin and orchestra with EMI Classics, the Concerto per la Costituzione; and in 2003, the complete Astor Piazzolla works for violin for Foné. Every year, Accardo and the OCI perform many concerts together, especially in Italy, where they play each season at some of the most important cultural theaters and venues.

Salvatore Accardo plays a violin Guarneri del Gesù “Hart”- 1730.