On tackling the works of Giuseppe Tartini, a player immediately notices an inconsistency: Tartini was a major personality of his period, a virtuoso violinist, a prolific composer, an excellent teacher – and his music is hardly ever performed today. He was called maestro delle nazioni, for he trained the great violinists of the Classical period from throughout Europe; he also left behind an...
Vivaldi’s Concerti Ripieni are probably the most unusual works written by the Venetian composer. Some of these pieces, however, are particularly exceptional for various reasons, especially considering the artistic environment in early 18th century Venice. This recording presents Vivaldi’s most brilliant and at the same time bizarre works from this genre. These compositional experiments are...
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sei Solo for unaccompanied violin figure amongst the baroque works on which the performance traditions of the 19th and 20th centuries weigh most heavily. Rediscovered halfway through the 19th century after having been forgotten for more than a century, these works quickly entered the repertoire of works performed by violinists during the Romantic period: from that moment...
Il violoncello di Corelli leads us to the origins of the solo cello literature – although one should actually use the term violone. In fact, the cello, as we know it today in its standard form, had many different sizes before its current proportions became generally established. Some instruments were larger, and the smaller ones were referred to by the diminutive form of the term violone –...
