Don & Giovannis

Don & Giovannis
  • country:Italy
  • style(s):Crossover, Classical Period
  • label:Termidor
  • type:Quintet
  • gender:male
  • instrumentation:unplugged
  • artist posted by:Kramer Artists

Line up

  • Andreas Winkler (Tenor)
  • Felix Brühwiler (Guitar & Mandolin)
  • Peter Gossweiler (double bass)
  • Rafael Baier (Saxophone & Clarinet)
  • Sven Angelo Mindeci (accordion)

The idea: A fresh approach to classical-crossover takes the most popular
operatic melodies and makes them accessible to a wider public through a
sound that is at once contemporary and true to the essentials of the great
opera masters. Arias by Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Händel, Mozart or Wagner
are transformed through tango, swing, flamenco, klezmer- or Balkan
sounds, producing a musical tightrope act that oscillates between tradition
and innovation, and that ultimately fuses into a rich musical mosaic.
With just one tenor voice and four instruments, Don &
Giovannis create a listening experience that is familiar and
nostalgic, full of surprises, witty and totally engaging.
The sound: The recordings testify to the ensemble’s broad-mindedness,
versatility and exceptional virtuosity. It’s how one might imagine a heavenly
jam session of musical legends: Mozart swinging with Django Reinhardt, Bach
improvising a tango with Astor Piazolla, Verdi jamming with Bob Marley!
Recalling romantic neapolitan songs of Enrico Caruso’s time, swinging
tunes à la Cole Porter, euphoric Sicilian tarantellas or passionate
Argentinian milongas, Don & Giovannis, namely mandoline, accordion,
clarinet and double bass accompanying the lyrical tenor voice, produce
a musical experience that evokes sunsets by the sea, dreamy bars
in the shadow of the Rio de la Plata, holidays on distant shores.
The innovation: Andreas Winkler and his musicians have developed a
new language in music that won’t be boxed into standard categories.
Exercising poetic license, in this project they also hark back to pre-digital
times when instruments were played live and musicians didn’t worry
about radio suitability or market compatibility. Don & Giovannis engage
audiences with performances that captivate and truly connect them to the
music. A new ensemble of inimitable sound is born: Don & Giovannis


Andreas Winkler, Tenor
Andreas Winkler started out as an operatic lyric tenor. Born in Italy to an Italian mother and a Viennese
father, he grew up in Innsbruck. In 2003, after graduating summa cum laude from the Musikhochschule
Cologne, Alexander Perreira invited the tenor to work at the Zurich Opera where he became
a permanent member of the ensemble. From Zurich, Winkler launched his international career.