Se in fiorito ameno prato. Handel: Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo
4/11/2025, 28 Tracks, 1:00:57
Featuring
Luigi Accardo
Nicola Brovelli
Gian Andrea Guerra
Mauro Pinciaroli
Quartetto Vanvitelli
George Frideric Handel
Did you know?
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Composition History
Handel's violin sonatas were composed across his career in London, from the mid-1720s during his Italian opera productions to his English dramatic oratorios in the early 1750s.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded at the Hotel Boite, located in the Villaggio Eni in Borca di Cadore, Italy, a historic holiday village for employees built in 1954.
Composition History
An early edition of twelve sonatas, supposedly by Jeanne Roger of Amsterdam, was actually a pirated edition compiled by London publisher John Walsh senior, who forged Roger's imprint.
Composition History
Many pieces printed during Handel's lifetime were misattributed to him by unscrupulous publishers, making it difficult to determine the authenticity and origins of his chamber sonatas.
Interpretation
Quartetto Vanvitelli, the performers on this album, deliberately include a couple of spurious misattributions from Walsh's fake collections to immerse listeners in the broader sound-world of Handel's London music-making.
Critical Reception
John Walsh senior's pirated edition of Handel's sonatas contained many mistakes and even included two works not by Handel, added merely to make up the customary dozen.
Historical Context
The purposes, contexts, and performers of Handel's violin sonatas are largely unknown, though it is speculated he performed them for nobility or in private settings with Italian soloists.
