Lorenza Borrani

Violin

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“Borrani was amazing in her solos, fiery and hypnotic yet tender and liquid as well.”
(Sydney Arts Guide, November 2016)

Lorenza Borrani is an artist for our times: an inspiring and charismatic violinist, a much sought after leader of orchestras and a gifted chamber musician. Dedicating herself to timeless music in all its different forms and periods, she likes to challenge herself in every kind of repertoire. Lorenza’s musical journey has taken her from the traditional values of 19^th and 20^th century music to the creation of new work and the re-examination of old masters through the intensive study of historically informed performing. With all of her versatility and vitality she reincarnates the travelling virtuosos of the 18^th and 19^th century when – just as today – the most sought after musicians were in demand in all of the great music centres of Europe: Milan, Vienna, Paris, London, Berlin – to which should now be added Tokyo, New York, Sydney and Beijing.

Lorenza is also much in demand as director and soloist. She has directed and led many important orchestras and ensembles including COE under Trevor Pinnock and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. An important solo performance was with the Orchestra Mozart with Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.7 under Claudio Abbado. In the 2017/18 season, Lorenza focuses on play/direct roles and debuts with The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Rīga and Orquesta Sinfónica de las Islas Baleares. After a successful tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in November 2016, Lorenza will return to Australia for another national tour. Return visits in the coming seasons include dates with Freiburger Barockorchester and London Chamber Orchestra.

As a keen chamber musician, Lorenza has collaborated with Isabelle Faust, Hélène Grimaud, Daniel Hope, András Schiff, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Janine Jansen, Irina Schnittke and Christian Tetzlaff to name a few. Lorenza’s ‘Mozart Quintets’ project, a collaboration with her close chamber music partners, debuts at Schloss Elmau in March 2018.

In 2007 Lorenza, with a group of close musical friends, launched Spira mirabilis as a laboratory for the intense preparation and performance of orchestra and chamber music repertoire of all periods ranging from Beethoven through to Schoenberg covering many of the most important works by Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bartók and Britten, all performed without a conductor or leader.

Lorenza Borrani rehearses Schumann’s Symphony No.1 with Spira mirabilis © medici.tv

Lorenza Borrani & Chamber Orchestra of Europe © photowerk

“Tonight’s guest director, Lorenza Borrani impressed the audiences not only with her performance of Schnittke, but also with her leadership that shaped the big span of the Beethoven symphony in the plush acoustic of the Aula.”

(Kjell Moe, Kulturspeilet, October 2017)

“Her preferences for delicacy and exploitation of the many, many developmental shades of pianissimo in slowly building crescendos produced a remarkable sound. … What a joy to hear Alfred Schnittke’s Sonata for Violin and Chamber Orchestra played with such intelligence and humour!”

(Jennifer Gall, The Sydney Morning Hearald, November 2016)

“Borrani has lean, agile sound and appealing musicality and brought keen intelligence to the ‘polystylism’”

(The Sydney Morning Herald, November 2016)

“In the wrong hands, it could sound chaotic. Borrani and the ACO’s spectacular performance made it feel seamlessly structured. Always attuned to the sonata’s sudden changes of mood and violent stylistic juxtapositions, the group’s tight-knit ensemble and incisive attack realised the passages of dissonant aggression while their soft-grained sonorities and soulfully phrased melodic shards captured its moments of mournful reflection.”

(The Australian, November 2016)

“Borrani’s pizzicato double-stops producing a folky ambience as she effortlessly navigated sudden accents and dynamic shifts. The Schnittke was a fascinating work for which Borrani seemed to have an incredible affinity.”

(Limelight Magazine, November 2016)

“Under the excellent direction of guest director and violinist Lorenza Borrani, who clearly had a great rapport with the Orchestra, we were treated to a superb performance by the ACO. … Borrani was amazing in her solos, fiery and hypnotic yet tender and liquid as well.”

(Sydney Arts Guide, November 2016)