Margherita Di Giovanni, viola
Matteo Fossi, piano
Carl Reinecke (1824–1910)
Drei Phantasiestücke, Op. 43, for viola and piano
Nino Rota (1911–1979)
Intermezzo, for viola and piano
Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979)
Sonata, for viola and piano
Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992)
Le Grand Tango, for viola and piano
Margherita Di Giovanni graduated in violin with highest marks from the “G. Rossini” Conservatory in Pesaro under the guidance of Mario Ferraris. She also earned a Second-Level Academic Diploma at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan in Daniele Gay’s class, graduating with highest marks. She furthered her training through masterclasses with P. Vernikov, M. Quarta, K. Sahatçi and R. Honeck, as well as the Advanced Specialization Course at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese.
In 2010 she began studying viola under the guidance of Simone Gramaglia, earning a Second-Level Academic Diploma with highest marks and honors from the “A. Casella” Conservatory in L’Aquila. Appreciated for her qualities as a violist, she collaborates with numerous chamber ensembles and has taken part in masterclasses with Larry Dutton, Robert MacDuffie and Aida Carmen Soanea. In 2012 she was selected for the Rome Chamber Music Festival.
Founder and member of the Guadagnini Quartet until 2015, she continued her advanced studies with the Cremona Quartet at the Walter Stauffer Academy and with Hatto Beyerle within the ECMA. With the Guadagnini Quartet she won the prestigious Farulli Prize at the 33rd Franco Abbiati Awards and performed at major festivals and concert series including the Stradivari Festival, Unione Musicale in Turin, Bologna Festival and Teatro La Fenice.
She has worked regularly as assistant principal and co-principal viola with I Solisti Aquilani and is currently principal viola of the Colibrì Ensemble – Pescara Chamber Orchestra. Since 2024 she has been the violist of the Klimt Quartet, one of Italy’s longest-established and most active chamber ensembles. Since 2021 she has devoted herself passionately to teaching, serving as Professor of Chamber Music at the “Rinaldo Franci” Conservatory in Siena.
Matteo Fossi, Florentine by birth and culture, studied piano at the Fiesole School of Music with Tiziano Mealli, graduating from the Ferrara Conservatory in 1999 with highest marks. He subsequently continued his advanced studies with Maria Tipo and Pietro De Maria, and later with Pier Narciso Masi. In 2001 he attended Maurizio Pollini’s seminar at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena as a full participant.
Highly active as a concert performer from a very young age, he is now regarded as one of Italy’s leading musicians. He has studied with artists including Piero Farulli, Pavel Vernikov, Alexander Lonquich, the Trio di Milano and Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1995 he founded the Klimt Quartet, one of Italy’s most active chamber ensembles, and for twenty-five years he has pursued an intensive career in various formations, from piano duo to sextet, making world-premiere complete recordings of works by composers including Brahms, Bartók, Poulenc, Ligeti and Schönberg.
Fossi has performed in the major Italian concert seasons and at prestigious festivals in Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, England, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, the United States, Brazil, China and South Korea. He regularly collaborates with internationally renowned artists including Antony Pay, Mario Ancillotti, Maurizio Baglini, Roberto Plano, Lorenza Borrani, Giovanni Sollima, Massimo Quarta, Moni Ovadia, Milena Vukotic, Luigi Lo Cascio and the Cremona Quartet.
He has an extensive discography for labels including Decca, Universal, Brilliant, Naxos, Nimbus, Stradivarius and Tactus. In 2014 Hortus released his first solo CD, devoted to Brahms, followed by six further monographic recordings dedicated to Schumann, Schubert, Debussy, Chopin, Beethoven and Bartók, all enthusiastically received by specialist critics. Also active in music organization, he has invited distinguished figures such as Rostropovich, Kagel, Penderecki and the Kronos Quartet to Florence.
Matteo Fossi teaches piano at the “Rinaldo Franci” Conservatory in Siena and served for fifteen years as a teacher and Vice President of the Fiesole School of Music. Regularly invited to give masterclasses around the world, in 2019 he received the prestigious Medaglia Laurenziana from the Accademia Internazionale Medicea. After serving for three years as Director of the Siena Conservatory, since 2024 he has been Co-Artistic Director of the Suoni Riflessi Association in Florence.