Sollazzo Ensemble & Anna Danilevskaïa
Biography Sollazzo Ensemble & Anna Danilevskaïa
Sollazzo Ensemble
brings together musicians with a keen interest in late medieval and early renaissance music. Founded in 2014 by Anna Danilevskaia, the ensemble benefits from the diverse musical backgrounds of its members, who not only not work in the early music field but also modern classical, folk and jazz music.
Critically acclaimed for their highly expressive delivery, the group rely on historical repertoires and informed performance criteria in order to convey feelings they have personally experienced, or to make statements that are meaningful to them. This process of appropriation is the basis of their communication with the public, as they aim to give every piece a strong, timeless identity which goes beyond purely musical intentions.
Since 2014, Sollazzo have won many prestigious competitions and awards including – York Early Music Competition and are recipients of the NCEM Prize in addition to the Cambridge Early Music Price. They were beneficiaries of the eeemerging Young Artists program – supported by Creative Europe – followed by a collaboration with the CCR d’Ambronay as associated ensemble between 2017 and 2020.
Since their discographic debut (« Parle qui veut – Moralizing songs in the middle ages ») the ensemble has published several CDs dedicated to repertoires reaching from the 13th to the 15th centuries, receiving accolades such as the Diapason d’Or, Disc of the Year by The Art Desks, Editor’s Choice by Grammophone, Critic’s Choice by De Standaard, CD of Choice by BBC Magazine, as well as the Diapason d’Or de l’Année for the years 2017 and 2021. They are currently involved in the recording of the complete Leuven Chansonnier collection for Passacaille Records and Ambronay Editions.
Sollazzo leads an active concert schedule, performing throughout Europe, USA and Asia.
Anna Danilevskaia
fiddle and Renaissance viol player, specialist in repertoires from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, was born into a family of musicians. She grew up surrounded by early music, specifically medieval repertoires, in Metz, France, and began her musical training at the age of six playing different instruments. At the age of fifteen she started to play the fiddle and, shortly after, the viola da gamba.
She studied with Pedro Memelsdorff in Barcelona, and later at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, focusing on medieval fiddle. She then completed her studies with a master’s degree in early viols with Paolo Pandolfo.
In 2014 she founded her own group, Sollazzo, dedicated to the music of the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. This first project as an ensemble director led Anna to explore different ways of approaching her chosen repertoire and allowed her to develop a musical language which has been called “unique, daring and yet respectful” by critics.
