Salvatore Accardo gave his first professional recital in 1954 at the age of 13, in a programme including  Paganini Capricci. In 1956, Accardo won the Geneva Competition and in 1958 became the first winner of the Paganini Competition in Genoa.

His extensive repertoire ranges from pre-Bach to post-Berg; composers like Sciarrino, Donatoni, Piston, Piazzolla and Xenakis have written for him.

 

Besides playing regularly with the world's leading orchestras and conductors, Salvatore Accardo performs successful recitals  and is particularly devoted to chamber music (in 1992 he founded the Accardo Quartet). Because of his deep involvement with young people, in 1986 he instituted the Academy Walter Stauffer together with Giuranna, Filippini and Petracchi  in Cremona, where they regularly give master-classes. In 1971 he founded the Settimane Musicali Internazionali in Naples, with the audience admitted to rehearsals, and the Cremona String Festival.

 

Accardo has an extensive discography on Philips, DGG, EMI, Sony Classical, Foné, Dynamic, Warner-Fonit and in 1999 he re-recorded the six Paganini Concertos with the Orchestra da Camera Italiana for EMI Classics. Recently Foné re-masterised the complete Mozart works for violin in 13 CDs, using high quality valve technology.

Salvatore Accardo was awarded the Premio Abbiati by the Italian critics, in recognition of the exceptional standard of his playing and interpretation.

 

Italy's highest honour, the Cavaliere di Gran Croce, was bestowed upon Accardo by the President of Italy in 1982. In 1996 the Peking Conservatoire named him “most honourable Professor”. In 1999 he was granted the order of "Commandeur dans l'ordre du mérit culturel", the highest honour of the principality of Monaco  and in 2001 he received the prestigious “Una Vita per la Musica” Award.

 

Accardo is  the owner of two Stradivarius violins: the Hart ex Francescatti 1727 and the Firebird ex Saint-Exupéry 1718.