Igor Ruhadze & Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya - Geminiani: Violin Sonatas, Op. 4 (2023) [Official Digital Download]

Ruhadze plays Geminiani: the latest volume in a revelatory project breathing new life into the founding figures of the Italian violin school of the 18th century.

The violinist Igor Ruhadze has already attracted superlatives and a dedicated following for his series of Locatelli albums on Brilliant Classics. With his colleague Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya, he has now turned to no less significant a figure in the rapidly evolving world of 18th-century Italy, Francesco Geminiani. In 2022, their album of the Op.1 Violin Sonatas won universal praise: ‘a superb new recording… These musicians do honour to the period performance movement, and their release goes straight to the head of today’s Baroque offerings.’ As another Fanfare reviewer observed, ‘The early-music world needs more performers like Igor Ruhadze. The violinist, born in Russia and now living in Amsterdam, divides his time between historically informed performance of Baroque music and conventional “modern” violin playing, and the results are outstanding. He plays on a Jacobs violin from 1693, and his sound in Geminiani’s Op.1 sonatas is sweet and majestic, with a wonderfully sustained and developed melodic line.’

Lending further attraction to these albums is that the sonatas in each collection are so rarely gathered together, but rather performed piecemeal within compilations of the Italian Baroque. Yet the genius of Geminiani stands up on its own. While the Op.1 collection dates from 1714, just two years after Geminiani had settled in London, Op.4 was published in 1739, alongside a revision of Op.1. In the meanwhile he had become known, not only in England but across Europe, for the brilliance and imagination of his playing, which transfers itself so readily on to the pages of these sonatas. They posed the stiffest challenge to violinists of their time – perhaps only Geminiani himself could have done them full justice – and yet now they come alive under the fingers of Ruhadze with new energy in which flamboyance is balanced with grace and elegance.

Francesco Saverio Geminiani (1687-1762) was born in Lucca. He began his study at an early age with his father, but his most important lessons followed in his years with the great Roman Master, Arcangelo Corelli. Composition lessons with Alessandro Scarlatti helped inspire and solidify his craft. In 1714 Geminiani settled in London, where he quickly gained fame as an ensemble player, concert violinist, and teacher. Here he became friends with Handel and led the orchestra during many performances together. Geminiani enjoyed great success not only in London, but also in Ireland where he spent a considerable amount of time. In 1760 he settled in Dublin, dying there in somewhat impoverished circumstances in 1762.

Geminiani's playing was distinguished by its great expressiveness, richness of dynamic coloring, extraordinary liveliness, and a strong temperament. Tartini tellingly called Geminiani "il furibondo” – the furious one!

This album presents the series of new sonatas that Geminiani composed during the 1730s, known as his "Sonate a violino e basso, Opera quarta", the sonatas for violin and basso continuo, Opus 4, published in London in 1739, written in a mixed style: the French style was characterized by refinement, detail, and elaborate ornamentation, whereas the Italian style was more straightforward, with fewer embellishments.

Played by Igor Ruhadze, Baroque violin and Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya, harpsichord. This duo already recorded the Op. 1 violin sonatas by Geminiani. Fanfare about this recording: “ The early-music world needs more performers like Igor Ruhadze. When a period player is truly fine—and Igor Ruhadze fits into this category—he or she can combine the rhetorical and the purely musical aspects in his playing to perfection. Ruhadze knows the conventions of Baroque style and expression thoroughly, but above all he is a violinist who plays superbly. This is some of the most accomplished historically informed violin playing I have heard in a long time, and should reconcile fans in the “period” and “modern” camps.”

Tracklist:
01. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1 in D Major: I. Adagio
02. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1 in D Major: II. Allegro
03. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1 in D Major: III. Largo
04. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 1 in D Major: IV. Allegro Assai
05. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 2 in E Minor: I. Adagio
06. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 2 in E Minor: II. Allegro
07. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 2 in E Minor: III. Largo
08. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 2 in E Minor: IV. Allegro
09. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 3 in C Major: I. Adagio
10. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 3 in C Major: II. Allegro
11. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 3 in C Major: III. Affettuoso
12. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 3 in C Major: IV. Allegro
13. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 4 in D Minor: I. Largo
14. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 4 in D Minor: II. Allegro
15. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 4 in D Minor: III. Grave
16. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 4 in D Minor: IV. Allegro
17. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 5 in A Minor: I. Andante
18. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 5 in A Minor: II. Presto
19. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 5 in A Minor: III. Allegro affettuoso-Non tanto-Allegro Affettuoso
20. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 6 in D Major: I. Adagio
21. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 6 in D Major: II. Allegro
22. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 6 in D Major: III. Andante
23. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 6 in D Major: IV. Allegro
24. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 7 in A Major: I. Andante
25. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 7 in A Major: II. Allegro
26. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 7 in A Major: III. Moderato
27. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 7 in A Major: IV. Allegro
28. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 8 in D Minor: I. Largo
29. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 8 in D Minor: II. Allegro
30. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 8 in D Minor: III. Andante
31. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 8 in D Minor: IV. Allegro
32. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 9 in C Minor: I. Andante
33. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 9 in C Minor: II. Allegro
34. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 9 in C Minor: III. Andante
35. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 9 in C Minor: IV. Allegro
36. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 10 in A Major: I. Andante
37. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 10 in A Major: II. Allegro
38. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 10 in A Major: III. Adagio
39. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 10 in A Major: IV. Allegro
40. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 11 in B Minor: I. Largo
41. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 11 in B Minor: II. Allegro-Largo-Allegro
42. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 11 in B Minor: III. Adagio
43. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 11 in B Minor: IV. Allegro-Affettuoso-Allegro
44. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 12 in A Major: I. Adagio-Presto-Adagio-Presto
45. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 12 in A Major: II. Presto-Adagio-Presto
46. Sonata, Op. 4 No. 12 in A Major: III. Presto


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