Luca Pianca

Lutenist Luca Pianca, born in Lugano, Switzerland, is one of the most prominent performers in the field of historical performance practice. He studied in Milan and Salzburg with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Since 1982 he has been working with his Concentus Musicus and is a co-founder of Il Giardino Armonico, one of the leading Italian Baroque music ensembles.

As a soloist, Luca Pianca has performed in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Philharmonie Berlin, the Vienna Musikverein, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Oshi Hall in Tokyo. He is a regular guest at the most renowned festivals in Salzburg, Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein etc.

He accompanies singers such as Cecilia Bartoli, Eva Mei and Christoph Prégardien as well as renowned instrumentalists, including violinist Viktoria Mullova and the solo oboist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Albrecht Mayer, with whom he has also recorded an acclaimed Handel CD. He is also active in duos with the viola da gamba player Vittorio Ghielmi and the baroque harpist Margret Koell at the most renowned chamber music series and festivals all over Europe.

In addition, Luca Pianca has participated in numerous opera and orchestra productions at the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Zurich Opera House and the Theater an der Wien. He played under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle in Berlin in Bach’s St. John Passion and under Riccardo Muti in oratorios by Scarlatti.

Thanks to an exclusive contract with the label Teldec, Luca Pianca has recorded the complete lute works by Bach and Vivaldi. His entire discography includes well over 50 CDs.