Italian Violin Sonatas: Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante
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CD Details
Orchestra: Fabio BiondiEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-07-08
Music Label: Virgin Veritas
Soundtracks:
- I. Overtura (Largo)-Allegro-Adagio
- II. Aria (Affettuoso)
- III. Paesana (Allegro)
- IV. Minuet (Allegro)
- V. Gia Del Postiglione (Allegro)
- I. Adagio
- II. Allegro
- III. Andante
- IV. Allegro
- I. Grand Air (Vivace)
- II. Les Vents (Allegro)
- III. Festes Galantes [Sarabanda] (Largo)
- IV. Badinage (Allegro)
- V. Du Sommeil (Largo E Piano)
- VI. L'amour En Courroux Au Desespoir (Allegro E Staccato)
- VII. Calme Amoureux (Largo)
- VII. La Noce Allemande [Allemanda]
- IX. Suite De La Noce [Forlana] (Allegro)
- X. Derniere Suite De La Noce (Allegro)
- I. Andante
- II. Presto
- III. Allegro Affettuoso
- I. Largo
- II. Allegro
- III. Allegro Assai
Music reviews of Italian Violin Sonatas: Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante
Music Review: The Italian Fiddler at His Best
Rating: 5 Stars
I can't overstate the importance of these contemporary recordings of Italian music by Italian bands. It may be cliched to say that it takes an Italian to properly perform Italian music, but in this case it certainly seems to be the case. The sense of drama is so effective: the facility with which this group can drop from fortissimo to pianissimo, the timing of dramatic pauses, the variation in articulation, etc. There is a very advanced and improvisatory approach to ornamentation and vibrato (a much more liberal, but yet tasteful use of the latter than is found in the Northern-European recordings of this music). This is really the showcase album for Europa Galante's leader Fabio Biondi and his terrifying virtuosity and artistry. The only thing more terrifying than this intense and ferocious music is when it is placed in the hands of fiddler with such great music taste and control.
Description of Italian Violin Sonatas: Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante
One tends to associate the virtuoso violin repertoire with the 19th century, but in their own way these five sonatas, written between 1714 and 1743, offer an equally dazzling display of speed, facility, bow control and tonal variety. No wonder: the composers were among the foremost violin virtuosos of their time, as well as tireless innovators of technique and style; several even wrote treatises on violin playing. The earliest, and least familiar, is Michele Mascitti, a Neapolitan who moved to Paris when he was 30. His "Psych?," the program's only piece in a major key, is a divertissement in ten short "tableaux" on the theme of Cupid and Psyche, with the violin and continuo as the two protagonists. Refined and elegant, varied in texture, expression and character, it ranges from tender love songs to slow and fast dances, including a wild Badinage. Veracini's Sonata Op. 1 No. 1, a dance suite with an unusually active cello part, opens with a slow Overture and ends with a Giga del Postiglione, in which the violin imitates a posthorn's call. The other three sonatas are basically dramatic and melancholy, highly ornamented, full of double stops, running passages and cadenzas. Locatelli's is distinguished by a very elaborate keyboard part and a lot of spiky syncopation in the finale. Geminiani makes the violin sound quite luscious, almost romantic; his rhythms and phrases are startlingly irregular. He shares the exploration of the high register with Tartini, whose Sonata displays his incomparable melodic gift and trademark obsession with trills. The performances are beyond praise. Biondi, one of the deservedly most renowned baroque violinists, plays with enormous brilliance, expressiveness, and endlessly varied articulation and nuance; there is a sense of spontaneous exhilaration in his inventive, improvisatory ornamentation: he seems to be playing with the music and the violin. His partners, some manning several instruments, match him in every way. --Edith EislerAll Works by Geminiani CDs
- Styles > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( G ) > Geminiani, Francesco
- ( L ) > Locatelli, Pietro Antonio
- ( T ) > Tartini, Giuseppe > All Works by Tartini
- Forms & Genres > Sonatas > General
- Historical Periods > Baroque (c.1600-1750) > General
- Classical (c.1770-1830) > Forms & Genres > Chamber Music
- General
- Instruments > Strings > Violin
- Featured Performers, A-Z > ( B ) > Biondi, Fabio
- General
- Chamber Music > General
Music Genres
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