Around the Music Festival

Spanish violinist Felix Ayo died in Rome on September 24 at the age of 90. He was part of the founding of the Italian chamber ensemble “I Musici” and served as its first concertmaster. The ensemble’s recording of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” caused a worldwide boom.

He was born in 1933 in Sestao, Basque Country, northern Spain. In 1952, at the age of 18, he founded the “I Musici,” a chamber ensemble whose repertoire focused on Italian Baroque music, and served as concertmaster until 1967.

The ensemble made the world’s first recording of “The Four Seasons” in 1955 and again in 1959. It was a sensational success, selling more than 9.5 million copies as a stand-alone album. It also sparked the baroque music boom of the second half of the 20th century.

In 1970, he founded the Beethoven Quartet of Rome, and since 1972 he has been a professor of violin at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, his alma mater, and has taught master classes around the world.

Photo：Felix Ayo Official Website