Francesco Maria Veracini (1690–1768) was one of the foremost violinists of his time, and he appears to have led a rather adventurous life; travelling a great deal, surviving a fall from the second floor of a house, and then losing all that he owned in a shipwreck! All this has made for a great deal of literature on the composer, and here we have the opportunity to become acquainted with a number of his violin sonatas which remained unpublished during his lifetime, including hitherto unrecorded repertoire.
Guiding artist Valerio Losito’s approach to these works is the implementation of his tripartite scheme to know, to understand and to interpret. In the case of works such as the Sonata for Solo Violin in A major, brilliant in style and clearly an original composition, this proves essential, as the issue surrounding the middle movement’s division into two staves, violin and basso, is explained when we realise that the melody and accompaniment can both by effected on the violin. Veracini’s style is virtuosic, as one would expect, and his handling of harmony and structure is highly individual. Also included on the compilation are three canons, two from the composer’s treatise Il trionfo della pratica musica (composed around 1765 as his ‘Opera Terza’ but never published) and one from the Sonate Accademiche of 1744, in the guise of a poetic couplet that seems to sum up the composer’s own life experience. A handful of engaging Preludes, for either harpsichord or violin, complete the collection.
Violinist Valerio Losito offers a highly stylised, character-laden performance, drawing attention through the implementation of his scheme to what is for him the most important aspect of music: its ‘human nature’ – in other words its original message – one which connects our time with that of Veracini, rendering the composer immortal. He is joined on the recording by early music expert and harpsichordist Federico Del Sordo.
Other information:
- Francesco Veracini (1690-1768) was a famous violinist in his time, a travelling virtuoso and composer of several treatises on composition and violin technique.
- Veracini’s style is rich, dramatic and highly personal, expressing his life philosophy in his music, as is explained in the booklet text by violinist Valerio Losito, who studied unpublished manuscripts, trying to understand and interpret the fascinating annotations.
- Beautiful and committed performances by these two Italians Early Music specialists, Valerio Losito and cembalist Federico Del Sordo, who wrote the extensive liner notes.
- Release features a world premiere recording and several first commercial recordings.
- Booklet features notes on the music, a list of manuscript sources and artist biographies.
