Experience the ‘pure sound’ (The Strad) of one of the planet’s greatest viola da gamba players.

Described as ‘one of the most brilliant and poetic exponents’ (Gramophone) of his instrument, Paolo Pandolfo makes his lutruwita/Tasmanian debut with a mesmerising venture through the golden age of the viola da gamba.

From the intimacy of de Machy’s elegant French suite, the bold experimentalism of Tobias Hume’s The First Part of Ayres, right through to his own arrangement of Bach’s second Cello Suite, this historic, yet thoroughly contemporary, instrument comes to life with Paolo’s ‘brilliantly poetic’ (Sydney Morning Herald) artistry.

About the artist

Paolo Pandolfo is one of the world's leading viola da gamba soloists. His passionate love to for the viola da gamba led him to deepen and research all aspects of the instrument.

After significant experiences in both Jazz and classical music, he entered the world of Early Music around 1979 together with violinist Enrico Gatti and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, studying with Jordi Savall at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. From 1982 until 1990 he was a member of Savall's ensemble Hesperion XX and performed with them throughout the world, making hundreds of concerts and dozens of recordings, playing an extremely wide repertory going from early Renaissance to late Baroque.

In 1990 he published the C.P.E. Bach Sonatas for viola da gamba, giving a start to his world career as a soloist. In the same year he was appointed professor at his alma mater, continuing and forwarding the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis tradition of international excellence for research and pedagogy of the viola da gamba.

He released a large number of CDs, mainly concentrating on the soloistic viol repertoire (Marais, Forqueray, St.Colombe, T.Hume, C.F.Abel, J.S.Bach, De Machy, Couperin, etc.).

His adaptation of J.S. Bach's Six Solo Suites for the viol became immediately a “must” for any complete Bach discography.