Photo: Original: Roberto de silva / Derivative work: Danyele / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Salvatore Accardo sits in rare company for me because of his association with Paganini. Plenty of violinists play those caprices and concertos. Few become genuinely identified with that fiendish repertoire the way he is. That tells you something about both technical command and stamina. The detail I find irresistible is the instruments. He has played a 1727 Stradivarius and once held the famed 1718 'Firebird,' and there's something poetic about pairing the most demanding composer with the most storied violins. Add a career long enough to earn Italy's top honors, and you're looking at a musician who treated virtuosity as a lifelong craft, not a stunt.
Overview
Salvatore Accardo (Italian pronunciation: [salvaˈtoːre akˈkardo]; born 26 September 1941 in Turin) is an Italian violinist and conductor, who is known for his performances of the works of Niccolò Paganini. Accardo owns one Stradivarius violin, the "Hart ex Francescatti" (1727) and had the "Firebird ex Saint-Exupéry" (1718).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Salvatore Accardo
- Name (Japanese)
- サルヴァトーレ・アッカルド
- Reading
- さるゔぁとーれ・あっかるど
- Born
- September 26, 1941 (age 84)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Snake
- Origin
- Turin, Province of Turin, Italy
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- classical violinist / conductor / violinist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- 1999 Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Conductor — see all → · More people from Italy →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.