The ensemble founded by Amandine Beyer in 2006 takes its name from the Accademia degli Incogniti, a musical society active in Venice in the 1630s. The choice of name was motivated by the group’s taste for the unknown in all its forms, whether this involves experimentation with sonorities, exploration of new repertory, or rediscovery of the ‘classics’. The primary aim of its approach founded on the pleasure of a ‘union of tastes’ (the goûts réunis dear to François Couperin), achieved through collective work, is to convey to its listeners a committed and cohesive vision of the music it tackles.
Gli Incogniti has appeared in many leading venues (including the opera houses of Dijon and Monte Carlo and the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris) and at such festivals as Via Stellae in Spain, Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg (Germany), and Saintes, Sablé and Lanvellec in France. Its first recordings, devoted to the violin concertos of Bach and Vivaldi, were immediately singled out for mention by the international press. After programmes of music by Nicola Matteis and Johann Rosenmüller, in 2013 the ensemble released a new version of Corelli’s celebrated Concerti Grossi op.6 that obtained a Diapason d’Or of the year (Zig-Zag Territoires).