Baroque violinist Fabio Biondi has been a pioneer in historically informed musical performance in his native Italy, both as a soloist and as the leader of his own Europa Galante ensemble. His sharp, energetic style has continued to influence the performance of Baroque music even as he has broadened his repertory across a 300-year period. Biondi's breakthrough came after he formed the Baroque ensemble Europa Galante in 1990. The group's recording debut came almost immediately with the album Vivaldi: String Concerti. At the time, Europa Galante was the first historical-instrument Baroque group in Italy; within a few years, the group had made several best-selling recordings. Biondi and Europa Galante released several albums in 2022, including Mendelssohn, which featured a selection of the composer's works for strings. By that year, Biondi's catalog comprised some 100 recordings.