Enrico Onofri and the Imaginarium Ensemble - concert at London Lufthansa Festival, May 22
#1 of ten best concerts in Daily Telegraph's "Reviews of the Year"

Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph, December 11 2011

"(...) Enrico Onofri and his ensemble offered something unique. Their performance of early Italian music brought a vanished way of feeling back to life. Onofri has made a life's work out of reviving the violin's sound in its early days in 17th-century Italy. He holds his violin (...) like a fiddler and turns the instrument into a wordless voice, pleading, cajoling, lamenting. Compared to the extrovert, brilliant modern violin, Onofri's sound seems as delicate as a reed, and yet it's always impassioned and enticingly strange."

“Ongaku no Tomo” September Issue

Rising high in the sky of Italy
“ENRICO ONOFRI – THE SECRETS OF BAROQUE VIOLIN” [Nichion UZCL1003] opens with the solo violin version of J.S. Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565”, a full-length of divine, spectacular and mystic work but yet accompanied with a personal warmth to it. Onfri’s violin performance truly projects his affection towards said instrument upfront. Despite this recording took place inside (a studio), the more you listen to it, it will make your heart feel floating up high to the sky of Italy along with the notes. And will be totally knocked out by Bassono, on the bonus track!

“Asahi Newspaper” (August 12, 2010)

“ENRICO ONOFRI – THE SECRETS OF BAROQUE VIOLIN” [Anchor Records UZCL1003]
Can we say it as Paganini today, the sound and the music kaleidoscope of Italy’s Phenomenon Onofri. Although unaccompanied (with other instruments), the performance techniques are matched by none, sensitive yet brilliant, and ever so dramatic. You’ll be carried away rediscovering the depth of violin.

AMADEUS, Italian Music Magazine – Nicoletta Sguben, June 2010

CD Vivaldi, La Follia - violin sonatas Imaginarium Ensemble, E.Onofri violin and direction – Deutsche Harmonia Mundi

BEST CD OF THE MONTH

...the effect is a choc. In the positive sense of term: this CD is really wonderful (...) The excellence of these musicians is with no doubts a formidable technique, but also their ability to create a whole vision of the sonatas (...)

MUSICA, Italian Music Magazine – Alberto Cantù, June 2010

CD Vivaldi, La Follia - violin sonatas Imaginarium Ensemble, E.Onofri violin and direction – Deutsche Harmonia Mundi

5 STARS, CD OF THE MONTH

EL PAIS ediciòn Nacional, June 7th 2010, Juliàn Carrillo
Festival Mozart in La Coruña, K. & M. Labèque pianos, Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, E.Onofri conductor

ONOFRI AND LABEQUE SISTERS ELECTRIFYING PUBLIC AT FESTIVAL MOZART
Enrico Onofri conducts without baton, with gesture more easy-going than nervous, and quick fast tempos wich underline his historic way of performing. The Galicia Symphonic Orchestra (...) on last Saturday has been one more time the best instrument for Mozart's music (...). Playing with great precision, many colours and musicality, they did their best version of Symphony n.40. Onofri was able to take out all dramas from the score, since first modulations of the Molto Allegro (...)

The Baroque Project, web reviews – Lola Cañamero, May 23rd 2010

Imaginarium Ensemble (La voce nel violino, Corelli sonatas and Vivaldi's Follia) & E.Onofri conducting the European Union Baroque Orchestra (Corelli, Muffat, Handel, Geminiani) at St.John Church, London 21st & 22nd May 2010 – Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music

I SAW CORELLI TODAY...

yes! conducting his big orchestra. Distorted face, looking like he is dying on stage, rolling eyes, jumping, making everybody move … as he moves, breathe … as he breathes, jump … as he blinks, cry … as he raises his eyebrow… and does magic with his bow. He goes by the name of Enrico Onofri these days. His orchestra today was called the European Union Baroque Orchestra: a bunch of very talented young musicians, enjoying playing together, playing with the Master, feeling privileged because they got to do so; moving everyone. A great program, the big star was Geminiani’s Follia (...) What else can I say? Absolute mastery of pretty much everything: bow, left hand, expression, imagination, baroque experimentation… in a word (or two): “pure” Baroque.

Not a bit less good was yesterday's concert, where Onofri conducted the Imaginarium Ensemble, seconded by the also amazing Alessandro Tampieri (...) A very comprehensive program of Italian Baroque from Cima to Vivaldi, two astonishing virtuosi having fun on stage playing together, two good friends enjoying playing (and dancing!) (...) Both very BIG (as virtuosi and also as in Big Italian Gestures). A very well chosen and beautifully played “finale”, Vivaldi’s Follia, made a usually shy British audience roar and shout “bravos” and “encores”; it made me feel like I was, well … levitating (while dancing it, that is!). (...)

The end of this year’s Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music (Top Marks for this edition!), and The Best of The Best.

Diario de Noticias , Lisboa

Caldara's Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo, DIvino Sospiro, G.Bertagnolli, M.Hinojosa, M.Oro, P.Martinez, F.Guimaraes, H.Oliveira, E.Onofri conductor – CCB's Grande Auditorio, April 1st 2010

This concert showed the high quality achieved by Divino Sospiro (...) As conductor, Onofri was a fiery and convinced defender of music..

Diario de Sevilla, Andres Moreno Mengibar, March 22 2010

Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, E.Onofri violin and conductor, Femas Festival

...a fascinating performance made of flexibility, precision, sound and phantasy. (...) Onofri (...) gave us much more than an interpretation, he played a music game, experimenting at every time, being amazing at every bar (...)

Diario de Sevilla, Pablo Vayon, March 19 2010

Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, E.Onofri violin and conductor, Femas Festival

...Enrico Onofri made vibrating Seville's orchestra in a pure Italian programme (...) with passion and intensity comparable just with delicacy of contrasts, refinate phrasing and the variety of effects obtained by the great Italian maestro. Since the first inebriating Largo from Corelli' Concerto grosso (...) untill the deliriously Amen of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Onofri made use of his basic concept for this repertoire: drama. (...) phrasing, accents, attacks and nuances were directed at a single purpose: transmission of pureness and deepness of a music made of light, sensuality and devastating vividness.

Diario de Sevilla, Andres Moreno Mengibar, March 15 2010

Imaginarium's concert in Femas Festival, music by Monteverdi, Uccellini, Cima, Castello, Fontana, Bassano, Vivaldi, etc.

Enrico Onofri offered an unforgettable first part dedicated to the Early Baroque violin (...). Nowaday, just Onofri can show us the complexity and virtuosity achieved by the Early Baroque (...) just Indian Carnatic music can be compared in terms of interpretative complexity on violin. Although, Onofri achieved the most difficult thing (...): performing this music in a natural way, never showing how difficult it is, focusing on the quality of the music (...) sounding in Onofri's hands rich in fantasy, amusements, harmonic boldness, thousands of expressive effects like slow glissandos suddenly concluded, the echo effects and – particularly – a neverending phantasy in ornamentation, melting the melodic line and the ornaments in a single sound and in a unique unity of expression and meaning.

Panorama, Italian magazine June 4th 2009 – Lorenzo Arruga

Haydn, Die Schöpfung – Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Coro Ricercare, G.Bertagnolli, M.Guadagnini, F.Bettini, E.Onofri conductor

...few days ago, I experienced a wonderful Die Schoepfung... Enrico Onofri on stage assured everybody not just a wonderful fancy of colours and phrasing, but also the joy of relive the joyful love gestures, through God invented all creatures. (...)
With such a musicians staff, it was amazing to feel our times all around us....

Scherzo, Spanish Magazine – Enrique Martinez Miura

Corelli, Sonatas op.V – Madrid Auditorio Nacional, June 3- 5 2008 – Enrico Onofri violin e direction, Imaginarium

(...) The final result (...) couldn't be more positive. Onofri had plenty of musicality, elegance, sense of fantasy, intonation, virtuosity and style (...) The top of the triumph (...) was achieved in a hypnotic interpretation of La Follia (...)

Mundoclasico Spanish Magazine – Juan Krankenberger

Corelli, Sonatas op.V – Madrid Auditorio Nacional, June 3- 5 2008 – Enrico Onofri violin e direction, Imaginarium

WE CAN STILL EXPERIENCE MUSIC ADVENTURES
(...) When music started, we realized to listening something really special: Onofri plays baroque violin in such an easy way, with such a mastery and such a sound quality that we were astonished (...) these two concerts were a revelation (...) Extraordinary! We can still experience music adventures (...)

Jan 2008, La voce nel violino is "5 de Diapason" on French magazine Diapason

Diapason magazine, January 2008, Philippe Ramin

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

The variable staff of the ensemble Imaginarium is unique and amazing; this association of harp, violino piccolo, viola in scordatura, organ, sounds more than a simple combination (...) of a basso continuo with a soloist. (...) The program includes the most part of the pre-baroque Italian hits (...) Enrico Onofri's bow renounce an easy way to play. Sweeping away the custom of an univocal playing wich turns into the rules (of methodical articulation systems), he decorates these sonatas with an endless range of colours (...) His very immaginative playing doesn't need outrageous contrasts or mannerist rubatos; the infinite number of expressions speaks out, without turning to overused artificial effects (...). The second violin (...) in Rognoni, produce a great effect of beauty, the sweet introduction of Fontana's sonata seduces at first sight, and liberates his vertical writing from heavyness.
We rarely listened such a variety of joyful and fast "flattement" introduced by Onofri into his sound, like an ornamental vibrato. (...) the madrigals are very exciting: the "Mentre vaga" by Monteverdi, played by two violins behalf two tenors, offers unheard colours, in order to explore the real relationships between vocal and instrumental eloquence. A success.

Feb 2008, La voce nel violino is "9 de Répertoire" on French magazine Classica-Répertoire

Classica-Répertoire magazine, February 2008, Serge Gregory

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

A lot of 17th century's violin recitals were inspired by the voice – or vocality – as a recognizable model, but just few of them have approached the goal like this one. Enrico Onofri doesn't stop to show us his affinity for this repertoire (...). He displays a wide range of charms and artifices, wich sometime move us to forget the instrumental nature of his instrument; glissandos (port de voix and chute), suspires, harmonics trills, vibrato or tremolato, an incredible variety of colors (what an effect the airy sound in Mentre vaga angioletta!), sensual bowing, fast left hand, everything blended by the elasticity of a gymnast (...) To enhance his vocal aim, Enrico Onofri has an excellent idea, adapting some masterpiece: Armato il cor and Mentre vaga angioletta by the "divino Claudio", a canzonetta by Frescobaldi (Se l'aura spira, played by violin and harp, exquisitely delicate) and Ancor che col partire by Rognoni, where we never listened a diminution being so close to the voice. A contrast, very skillfully conceived, between madrigals where the voice becames an instrument, and sonatas where the instrument becames a voice (...) Here's, in a few words, a recording that I warmly recommend (...)

L'ena hors les murs magazine, December 2007

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

(...) Enrico Onofri gives to the soul of his violin such a sensitivity that we can believe his bow playing on his own vocal apparatus. Because of that, La voce nel violino is more than a simple metaphor, and we can take it in a litteral sense. Bold like a coloratura soprano, soft and fluid like a castrato voice, proud like the most knightly tenor, Enrico Onofri's violin has, in a few words, four vocal strings... (...) To the ones that scream "sacrilege" about the instrumental versions suppressing the voice, we'll say that the texts of these wonderful madrigals are printed on the booklet. Because of that, we can see a remarkable relationship between music and poetry, like the violin performed the literary argument better than the original voices. In brief, we can say that Enrico Onofri's violin doesn't miss the speech... At last, Margret Koell playing the double harp a tre registri, Alessandro Tampieri playing the lute and second violin, Riccardo Doni playing organ and harpsicord, constitute the ensemble Imaginarium ("the place of images"). Such a musician staff spins the thread of the images through a remarkable knowledge (...)... Listen as soon as possible!

Fanfare magazine, September 2008 – Robert Maxham

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

Onofri, who has demonstrated so rich an imagination in his performances with Il Giardino Armonico, endows these works, in collaboration with his ensemble, with an equally vibrant exploratory sense, not only of the richly varied forms, but also of the similarly kaleidoscopic instrumental colors and brilliant virtuosity. The colors may be generated by period instruments, but they flash so brightly that the message almost obliterates the medium. I’ve reviewed several collections of music from this period during the last decade and a half (...), and each time I’ve marveled at the music’s inventiveness—though never more so than in this recording. So again, urgently recommended.

Il Corriere della Sera , Vivimilano, February 2008 – G.Mario Benzing

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

ONOFRI, THE BAROQUE VIOLIN INVENTS THE FUTURE
(...) Despite the rigorous historical playing, Onofri's violin opts for a flourish singing, like in Monteverdi's intavolatura, in a solemn Castello's Sonata or in majestic Ricercata by Bassano.

Japanese magazine Record Geijyutsu, February 2008 – Koki Yazawa

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

(...) Enrico Onofri is a virtuoso leader of the italian baroque string instruments since 90th (...) "La voce nel violino" (...) conducted by himself, is welcome: I don't hesitate to suggest it as the most representative Cd by Onofri. First, the programme is beautiful. (...) Concerning the interpretation, I think that this Cd has broken the charms of another CD considered untill now the masterwork of early italian violin music: ''Musica al tempo del Guido Reni'' (...) As expected, favoured by his strong bow technique (we could invent for his bowing the definition of "elastic steel") and by a colorfull sound (but not vibrato), Onofri plays wonderful dramatical effects in Cima's piece, often played too seriously. The serious monologue of Rognoni's piece shows a rigorous philologist playing with a great musical background. Then, Monteverdi: Onofri is able to "paint" the meaning of the text making his violin speaking, making the words implicitly inside the instrument come out; at the same time he points out the original nature of the Triosonata, a result never achieved untill now. The ill harmony of Gesualdo and a clear lyric Frescobaldi are also unforgettable. (...) the curtain goes down on a strange seventeenth-century style Canone by Veracini, after an amazing piece by Pandolfi, impeccable, never subsiding. This Cd points out how many "voices" we can still discover inside the violin (...) Actually, a CD to listen.

Suono Italian Magazine, June 2008 – Umberto Padroni

La voce nel violino (music by Castello, Cima, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Fescobaldi, Fontana, Veracini, etc.) – Enrico Onofri solo violin and musical direction, Imaginarium – Zig Zag Territoires, 2007

(...) Enrico Onofri, a very excellent violinist and a cultivated musician dedicated to valorization of ancient treasures (...) offers a brilliant summa of 17th century pieces through the violin and the violino piccolo, played with elegant bowing and gorgeous virtuosity (...)

Classic Journal (Japan), Kotaro Yamazaki

Mozart Symphony 40, Serenata Notturna (live recording) – Enrico Onofri conductor, Divino Sospiro, HARBOR RECORDS (NICHION) 2007 (Cd + Dvd)

...concert of Divino Sospiro conducted last year by Enrico Onofri at La Folle Journée au Japon was a nice surprise (...) The Symphony n.40 amazed me, it was performed with such intense vitality and nuances. This Japanese CD (...) include the same piece, recorded six months later in Lisbon (...) The release of this Cd delights peoples that – like me – became fans of Onofri after the concert at La Folle Journée (...) Phrases are played with nuances, singing and flying (...) suddenly lighted, changing colors and expressions, slow and fast (...) Onofri envolve the breath of the music, like in a suspiration. Moreover, is wonderfull to find after the Symphony – wich is a tempest of suffering, or sometime a madness attack – the simple humor of the Serenata Notturna (...) Listen and watch it!

Il Giornale, December 14th 2007, Lorenzo Arruga

Mozart Sinfonia 40, Serenata Notturna (live recording) – Enrico Onofri conductor, Divino Sospiro, HARBOR RECORDS (NICHION) 2007 (Cd + Dvd)

MOZART BY ONOFRI IS A "BLESSED SHOCK"
Musicians wich play or conduct Baroque-Classical music are considered specialists. Despite that, some of them is a good musician, some other not. It's difficult to go out of the traditional performances without being "cold" or "careless". But there are also big surprises. The celebrated Mozart's Symphony n.40, played by Divino Sospiro, is a "blessed" shock for people with lazy ears: sinuous, restless, very fast, instruments are involved in an intimate dialogue. We're forced to think that it's not just a simple present, but a captivating play of people deeply involved in the story. It's conducted, in a genius way, by Enrico Onofri (...)

La Gazzetta di Mantova, 21 Aprile 2009, A.Z.

Haydn, Die Schoepfung – Mantova, 19 April 2009 – Enrico Onofri conductor, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Coro Ricercare, G.Bertagnolli, M.Guadagnini, F.Bettini

...Enrico Onofri conducted in a vivid way, close to the meaning of the texts, through a never superficial sensible and lively energy, sometime transforming it into deep wide sounds, suddenly changing the tempo and the character, in a clever appropriate conception of the piece wich mixes the effects with the contents. A praiseful performance, enthusiastically applauded...

The Times, Geoff Brown 9/6/2006

Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006

Another winner from Naïve’s Vivaldi Edition. There’s no conveyor-belt music in these five concertos — startlingly imaginative and played with a brilliance to match by the gifted Enrico Onofri and the Academia Montis Regalis. Gypsy fire burns in the Grosso Mogul; tiptoe beauty shimmers in Il Riposo; while L’Inquietudine twitches with restlessness. Whatever the music’s emotional state, Onofri’s bold playing enlarges and enhances.

La Stampa, Sandro Cappelletto 5/13/2006

Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006

VIVALDI, AN ELEGANT AND VISIONARY 18TH CENTURY
...the Academia Montis Regalis (...) spurred by the shining temperament of Enrico Onofri, catapults Vivaldi's music into a virtuosistic and visionary 18th century. In that time, people were amazed by acrobatical voices, but the instruments (expecially the violin) were not less acrobatical. In these six concertos - Il Grosso Mogul, l'Inquietudine, Il Sospetto, La Caccia, Il Riposo, and the 332 in g minor - Onofri plays "until death", taking the marvellous principles of Baroque as a creed; he follows the tempo of his inspiration behalf the bar's one; he plays like in a theatre; he's spectacular; his playing is crazily fast or crazily slow; he plays in Spanish mood; he reminds that music has been daughter of the spirit of the dance while the centuries. He amuses himself; he amuses; he amazes; he guides.

Goldberg, Graham Lock (awarded "5 stars Recommendend CD")

Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006

...Onofri refers in the booklet to the “complex states of mind” that Vivaldi’s music explores, while Olivier Fourès notes its theatricality, calling Vivaldi a virtuoso of illusion. The nicknames of the concertos here do imply programmatic intent and Onofri seizes the chance to illustrate the dramatic scenes and psychological portraits that Vivaldi paints, brilliantly conjuring paroxysms of anxiety in “L’Inquietudine”, the scurrying flights of “La Caccia”, and the hushed mysteries of “Il Riposo”, with a mercurial deftness as vivid as it is tender. Academia Montis Regalis, fleet and supple, follow him every step, and even match his exemplary control of dynamics...

Goldberg , January 2008 – the Vivaldi cd "Concerti per violino vol.I, La caccia" is one of the "50 discos de una década" (best 50 Cds of last ten years)

Mundoclasico, Juan Krankenberger
Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006

...about Enrico Onofri, conductor and soloist (...) his violin technic is amazing, the pureness and the quality of the sound are enviable, his musicality and freedom of expression are worthy of admiration. A successful CD (...) A real revelation for the admirers of Vivaldi's music.

Japanese magazine ONGAKU-NO-TOMO, March 2008 – Tsutomu Nasuda

Handel Festival Japan Choir and Orchestra, E.Onofri conductor, January 18th 2008, Hamarikyu Asahi Hall, Tokyo

The Theme for the "5th Handel Festival Japan" was referred as "The English Court and Handel" (...), Water Music and Coronation Anthems. The concert was conducted by Enrico Onofri. (...). Water Music was performed in the order (...) of it's premier performance, based on the score which was discovered in London a few years ago. Onofri’s gesture was dynamic. Tempo was tight, colourful and original articulations, gentle intonations, phrases with tiny agogiks at the beginning, merry dancing, and including the dynamic, everything was well considered and also did not forget it’s playful mind. In the latter half of the concert, Coronation Anthems, the sharp contrast by the poetic segments, the words described in plenty of images, all created a great power of persuasion. And the clear and energetic expression of The King shall rejoice as well. Due to the positive attitude of both the Orchestra and the chorus, everything was coherent, and at the Zadok the Priest part, the performance became dramatically sensational beyond expectation.

Publico, January 2008 – Cristina Fernandes

Mozart Sinfonia 40, Serenata Notturna (live recording) – Enrico Onofri direttore, Divino Sospiro – HARBOR RECORDS (NICHION) (Cd + Dvd)

Recorded live in a concert (...) this CD (…) transmits such energy and a contagious communication power that must have surely amazed all the music lovers (…)
The warm timbre (sometimes ruff, if compared with many of the aseptic interpretations realized in modern times) of the original instruments gives to this interpretation a very distinct personality, but it is the emphasis on the baroque heritage received by Mozart and the strong contrasts in the score emotional status that made this recording so attractive and surprising for a work that has been recorded dozens of times.
Instead of the Mozart Apollonius and elegant we are used to hear in this recording we are confronted with a tumultuous wave of passions clearly affiliated from the “Sturm und Drang” movement, in the Symphony, and full of humor in the Serenade. It is a “Latin” approach, frequently sprinkling and that takes risk (…) rhythms are very up fronted, phrasing is taken with such plasticity and varied in the nuances, we hear drastically and unexpected dynamic changes and the tempos are quite fast…..
The Symphony bears very nice winds interventions meanwhile the Serenade shows strings in very good shape (in a colourful dialog), and along of it we fell the strong presence of basses and “percussion”. In the Serenade last movement the “ludic” side is sub lined with eloquent “cadenzas” written by Onofri for the violins, viola, double bass and timpani (...) Is undeniable that this version, made with sharp contrasts and emotion “on the skin” puts the most conventional Mozart, which populates our imagination, in discussion.



Kohkidoh Yamao' Website, Classic Critic Review
Mozart Sinfonia 40, Serenata Notturna (live recording) – Enrico Onofri direttore, Divino Sospiro – HARBOR RECORDS (NICHION) (Cd + Dvd)

Mozart...conducted by Onofri (...) delete the idea of a "relaxing" and "nice" Mozart (...) Probably, this is the real Mozart (...) There's a strong rythm (...) a Mozart that inspire me singing (...) I listened many interpretations of Mozart, such the Academy of Ancient Music conducted by Cristopher Hogwood, but the vitality of the "Onofri team" amazes me (...) when I listen this music on the metro, I'd like to exit from the train and start to dance on the railroad (...) It helps me to understand that the classical-baroque orchestra is like a jazz big band, with "interplay"(...) Mozart's music performed by Onofri and Hogwood is the music I need to have on my iPod, walking the streets (...) the strong sense of the rythm, dancing vitality, attack of energy (...) I'd like to walk in Shibuya listening this music. Before thinking it in your mind, let's feel it directly with all five senses...



Amadeus Italian Magazine, July 2006
Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006

What a wonderful Vivaldi, wich has no fear to exagerate with great effects, and never using bad effects. It's the brave choice of Enrico Onofri (...) wich performs also as conductor since four years. We can listen him leading the Academia Montis Regalis, playing in acrobatical way. These concertos (...) has been interpreted by the violinist from Ravenna, and by the ensemble, in a restless and irreverent way, a funny defy feeling based on the programmatic idea of Vivald's music. Pieces – already extreme – are galvanized, crossing the border of an obsessive rhetoric, wich is perfect – in our opinion – for Vivaldi's baroque inspiration...



Classica (Japan's classic music web site)
Mozart Sinfonia 40, Serenata Notturna (live recording) – Enrico Onofri direttore, Divino Sospiro – HARBOR RECORDS (NICHION) (Cd + Dvd)

Chi l’ha sentito, di sicuro si ricorderà Mozart suonato da Divino Sospiro con la direzione di Enrico Onofri a La Folle Journée au Japon. Sembrava un pezzo sconosciuto la Sinfonia n.40...quella Sinfonia che abbiamo già sentito tante volte era diventata proprio un pezzo nuovo! Era un Mozart di cui non si può vedere la fine...Esce un CD del loro Mozart il 21 Novembre per Harbor Records. Contiene la Sinfonia n.40 e la Serenata Notturna...Io sono rimasto molto stupito l’anno scorso e penso che questo stupirsi con la musica "conosciuta" voglia dire tanto...



The Star Ledger USA, 13 March 2007
VIVALDI: Il Furioso!
Review by Bradley Bambarger

The French label Naive has partnered with institutions in Italy to record 25 CDs of music from Vivaldi's personal manuscript library (...) A sampler of the take so far, "Il Furioso!" showcases the Red Priest's fiery side in excellent performances (...) The instrumental selections include excerpts from concertos for violin, oboe and bassoon (...) One of the most breathtaking items is the solo recitative from Enrico Onofri's performance of the "Gross Mogul" Violin Concerto.



Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006 announced as one of the "10 best CDs of 2006" on Japanese magazine Classic Magazine



Gramophone – John Duarte
Vivaldi Concerti Op.8, Il Giardino Armonico, Enrico Onofri solo violin

...Onofri is spellbinding and if he were in that line of business I would not hesitate to employ him to decorate my home, or anything therein.



The Plain Dealer - Cleveland, Music Review

...Onofri played his period violin with the grand virtuosity of a baroque opera star...he performed acrobatic embellishments worthy of the legendary Italian castrati. In bravura sonatas...he dramatized contrasts between slow emotive passages and outburst of fiery brilliance. Onofri made music of another era jump off and carry the listener to another time and place.



Gramophone – John Duarte
Vivaldi, The Four Season, Il Giardino Armonico, Enrico Onofri solo violin

...Onofri is as good a soloist as may be met in a long march, pitch-perfect, incisive but not 'edgy' and effortlessly alert to every nuance.



Il Giornale, April 10th 2007, Lorenzo Arruga
Divino Sospiro in quartet, Haydn, Christ's Seven Last Words
LISBONA - Auditorium of the Belem Cultural Centre (CCB)

WHAT A WONDERFUL MEDITATION THE ADAGIOS OF DIVINO SOSPIRO
Sometime we're in touch with the truth: I don't know who's the great man wich said it. The listening of the Christ's Seven Last Words by Haydn during the Holy Week makes him right. In Lisbon we have an Italian baroque and classical ensemble. What a wonderful meditation. It's seven adagios, more than a very rapid finale; to sustain the listening it's required to suspend the time. You're there, you dig into the word. The word is just anointed. Instruments have not to grasp its sound, but its echo, its shadow, freed from the prison of the language, reading the sign impressed on ourself, into communication. First violin and leader was Enrico Onofri. He can conduct maybe every kind of music, because he's able to grasp the soul and the body of the composers and musicians. An heartfelt mystical experience, the happyness of seeking all together, we too. Finding.



Diverdi web magazine – Mariano Acero Ruilópez
Vivaldi Concerti per violino vol.I "La caccia" – Enrico Onofri violin & conductor, Academia Montis Regalis – Naive, 2006

...se posee el apabullante dominio técnico y la plena identificación con la música interpretada de Enrico Onofri (...) y la Academia Montis Regalis, que él mismo dirige, la fiesta sonora está asegurada.
Este primer volumen de conciertos de violín que graban para la Edición Vivaldi de Naïve reúne seis obras sobradamente conocidas y muy contrastadas -del orientalizado Grosso Mogul al misterioso Il Riposo, del abstracto RV 332 al desasosegado L'inquietudine-. Onofri se explaya en el folleto -los comentarios técnicos, excelentes, corren a cargo de Olivier Fourés- sobre el apasionamiento vital del compositor, que transmitió a toda su música, cualquiera que fuera el estado de ánimo sugerido o pintado musicalmente -esclarecedora, por cierto, su disección de La caccia mostrándolo como una obra de fuerza descriptiva equivalente a Las cuatro estaciones-. Y al iniciar la escucha del disco comprobamos cómo las notas fluyen con un vigor extraordinario y una aparente y pasmosa facilidad, los instrumentos cantan vistuosísticamente -en ocasiones, por cierto, paralelamente a las golondrinas- y al impregnarse de los planteamientos dichos, traducen esos conciertos familiares con una renovada frescura, con un nuevo colorido, con la pasión y la vehemencia de los enamorados. Un nuevo acierto en este magno proyecto ya imprescindible.



Diverdi web magazine – Mariano Acero Ruilópez
La casa del diavolo
Enrico Onofri (violin)
Il giardino armonico, NAIVE

...sonando apasionada, atormentada, ardiente, profundamente humana. Y por ende, emotiva. Escuchen, si no, ese lamento de Arianna en que el violin de Enrico Onofri capaz seria de conmover al mismisimo Teseo, haciendole retornar junto a su traicionada amante.



Bach Cantatas Review – The Italian Bach in Vienna DVD (TDK DV-BACON
Apr 2000), Kirk McElhearn April 14, 2002

Violinist Enrico Onofri, who plays with the same kind of energy as his compatriot Fabio Biondi, brilliantly performs the Vivaldi violin concerto. This is one of those Vivaldi concertos clearly written for a virtuoso, with rapid arpeggios, and runs all the way along the neck of the violin, including, in the opening allegro, a section at the very highest possible notes. This is an excellent performance, and shows a virtuoso violinist in complete control of very demanding music.



from the Official Home Page of Les Folles Journée in Tokyo
TOKYO May 2006 - Divino Sospiro, E.Onofri conductor Mozart, Symphony #40 in g minor; Haydn, Cello Concerto in c major (C.Coin, cello)

....Divino Sospiro conducted by Enrico Onofri (...) was suppose to invite the audience to the elegant classic world but their music and sound was actually heated with Latin! (...) Mr.Onofri charms a cheerful baroque orchestration with a Latin spirit, which made a joyful and merry concerto. What an enthusiastic atmosphere (...) the danceable sound makes your bloodstream super good. This cool Mozart which would probably make a square person fall down from his chair, made the whole hall go crazy with excitement. May be Mozart was looking for music full of Latin flavor and performed delightfully like this. (E.N.)
A famous critic, Hideo Kobayashi, said “Mozart sorrow runs fast. Tears can not catch up”. However for the audience not only “sorrow” but also “joy” had run at full speed, and perhaps the audience could not catch up with the music which was like Light Velocity...it was absolutely fantastic!



Publico Portuguese magazine, February 16th 2005 – Manuel Pedro Ferreir
Baroque Orchestra Divino Sospiro, Enrico Onofri, conductor.
LISBON - Small Auditorium of the Belem Cultural Centre

...Divino Sospiro undertake the challenge of demanding but known partitions of Telemann, Vivaldi, J. S. Bach and Haendel, under the direction of the Italian conductor Enrico Onofri, who presented himself as a soloist in violin. The highest level of performance and technique was revealed in the interpretation. Onofri explored with great vivacity and imagination the articulation using strong and contrasting dynamics, explosive, leaving no phrase for sculpturing, counting with total commitment of the musicians. As soloist in the Concert "Grosso Mogul", of Vivaldi, he revealed virtuosity and inspiration...Like the public, really enthusiastic, we suspire for more.