New CD!

In September 2022 I recorded my second solo album, the complete violin sonatas op.3 and op.4 (Innsbruck 1660) by D. Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (1624-ca.1687). These twelve pieces have been quite popular among violinists and even among recorder and cornetto players, but so far there exist only two recordings of the complete collection (by Andrew Manze and Gunnar Letzbor).

I have always loved this music: it is simple but very expressive and vocal, almost without any virtuosic effects but original and never predictable. Many of the sonatas contain or are based on an ostinato bass with lovely variations, and I particularly like the parts that are written as songs with couplets and a refrain. All of the sonatas (each carrying a title which refers to a person, mostly Mealli’s colleagues at the Innsbrucker Hofkapelle) have a very distinct character despite their very similar opening bars.

Even though the bass line of this music is quite straightforward in most cases, its realisation and instrumentation have a great influence on the upper part. It is, at least for me, impossible to just focus on the solo part as the carrier of the music: these pieces need some reflection and experimentation with the whole group, which is always a very interesting, inspiring and rewarding process. For this album I was very happy to work with my outstanding continuo colleagues Johannes Keller (organ and harpsichord), Vera Schnider (harp) and Johathan Pešek (cello), who were as curious to explore the qualities and possibilities of our colourful ensemble as I was.

The principal organ “ad ala”, an appropriate instrument for accompanying chamber music of this time (da chiesa and da camera) was provided by Massimo Cialfi.

In my opinion, this music is brought to life in the very moment of its performance, which is always different. This means there couldn’t be one “ideal” version we presented in each take. Our sound engineer Johannes Wallbrecher is the best partner in such projects, since he considers himself part of the ensemble and always allows the music to develop during the recording.

The CD will be published in Spring 2023 by Challenge Records, who offered me this collaboration. I am honoured and grateful for that.

For this occasion I made a new edition of the sonatas, which is now available on IMSLP (critical notes in German included).

Thumbnail photo by Elam Rotem.

Many thanks to Sulger-Stiftung und Basler Orchester-Gesellschaft for their generous financial support.