That’s right. By removing the cobwebs from works that are no longer well known, we can gradually understand these areas. There is so much to discover. Libraries are full of treasures just waiting to be found; their collections are amazingly rich, even in terms of major composers.

We also hope to interest music-lovers in composers that are now considered of secondary importance, although they were very well known in their day. Locatelli, for instance, was unknown until about twelve years ago, but in the eighteenth century his bold, virtuosic instrumental writing made him one of the stars of the musical firmament. There are many similar instances. Research enriches music history, and builds up its vocabulary and language. The vast amount of material to be explored means that we never get stuck in a rut. Information on daily life, on the history of baroque instruments and how they were played are some of the starting points for wide-ranging studies on how music was used from day to day, its social function, context, and so on. These data increase the value of the works themselves.

How would you justify the term ‘baroque musician.’ Does a baroque musician always play in the same style? What is his aesthetic ideal?

One must strive, through hard work, to maintain a harmonious mixture of musical rules, thought, and notation, while still remaining free to improvise. Twenty years ago, when William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe and Nikolaus Harnoncourt were starting out, I also went through a sometimes difficult period of assimilating the architecture of baroque music. Patient study and constant reflection allowed me to develop my own style and to get to know all the resources of my instrument—how the gut strings reacted, about bowing... this kind of knowledge can’t just be made up on the spot. I consulted manuscripts, compared sources, analysed the composer’s indications on the scores, and took note of dynamic markings. I had to work out my own cultural identity; I could hardly play like someone from a northern country... my sensibilities are Mediterranean!

To avoid problems in rehearsals, everyone should have extensive knowledge of the score before we meet as a group. This research should result in a clear definition of the style of the work and of the composer’s artistry. My aim is that Europa Galante, my ensemble, will bring its own twenty-first century reading a contemporary perspective to baroque music. It’s not a question of recreating music as we think it was played in the past, but of allowing it to be heard afresh through a modern prism.

How did your taste for revisiting the past through the baroque violin develop?