Federico Guglielmo is one of Brilliant Classics’ most prominent performers. Having recently helped assemble the authoritative Vivaldi Edition, a collection of over 60 CDs of the Italian composer’s music, here he turns his hand to another renowned Baroque composer: Georg Philipp Telemann. Following on from J.S. Bach’s tradition of solo violin music – some of the most famous works the master of Baroque ever wrote for the instrument – Telemann proves himself to be just as capable of writing lyrically for the violin, adopting a style that is often more ‘vocal’ compared to Bach’s and which is resultantly less daring in its use of counterpoint. Many of the Fantasias are extremely lively, and indeed it is interesting to note that Telemann drew on many folk dances of the time for these works. One, the ninth Fantasia, has its first movement explicitly labelled ‘Siciliana’.
Guglielmo helps these Fantasias to dance along, showing himself to be a consummate.
Baroque performer of German as well as Italian music. Praised by Gramophone magazine for his "sparkling virtuosity", Guglielmo’s reputation has grown steadily since his first-prize win in the Vittorio Gui Chamber Music Competition in Florence at the age of just 22; his career has since flourished, with noteworthy collaborations including the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston and the world-renowned Academy of Ancient Music in the UK. Guglielmo’s passion for Baroque music comes across in bucket loads, as he fully exploits the lyrical nature of Telemann’s works.
The 12 Fantasias for violin solo by Georg Philipp Telemann are masterpieces in their genre, and should be as famous as the Sonatas and Partitas by his contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach.
Not only are these works a testimony of Telemann’s great melodic gift, but the violin writing is idiomatic and demanding, using advanced violin techniques (Telemann was a self-taught violinist himself). The sonatas contain several movements, and are a synthesis between the melodious Italian School style of Corelli, and the polyphonic German style (several sonatas end with a fugue).
Few violinists have better credentials for performing this music than Italian maestro Federico Guglielmo, leader of the early music ensemble “L’Arte dell’Arco” and celebrated violinist himself, with an impressive discography to his name. For Brilliant Classics he recorded the complete Op. 1-10 by Vivaldi, to great international acclaim.
Other information:
Notes on the composer and pieces.
Notes on the performer.
Description of the instruments end.
Recorded in 2011 at the Sala della Scuola di Santa Maria della Carità, Padua, Italy.
