Bach: Sonatas & Partitas Fabio Biondi

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001:
• 1 Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 1, Adagio 03:28
• 2 Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 2, Fuga (Allegro) 05:14
• 3 Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 3, Siciliana 02:44
• 4 Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 4, Presto 03:51
• Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002:
• 5 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 1, Allemande 05:19
• 6 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 2, Double 02:55
• 7 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 3, Corrente 03:48
• 8 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 4, Double 03:50
• 9 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 5, Sarabande 03:44
• 10 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 6, Double 02:28
• 11 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 7, Bourrée 03:14
• 12 Bach: Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 8, Double 03:51
• Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003:
• 13 Bach: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 1, Grave 04:06
• 14 Bach: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 2, Fuga (Allegro) 08:33
• 15 Bach: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 3, Andante 05:08
• 16 Bach: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 4, Allegro 05:13
• Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004:
• 17 Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 1, Allemande 04:40
• 18 Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 2, Corrente 02:29
• 19 Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 3, Sarabande 03:52
• 20 Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 4, Giga 04:03
• 21 Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 5, Ciaccona 14:02
• Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005:
• 22 Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 1, Adagio 04:10
• 23 Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 2, Fuga (Alla breve) 11:30
• 24 Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 3, Largo 02:51
• 25 Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 4, Allegro assai 04:56
• Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006:
• 26 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 1, Preludio 03:51
• 27 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 2, Louré 04:48
• 28 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 3, Gavotte en rondeau 03:03
• 29 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 4, Menuet I 01:44
• 30 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 5, Menuet II 01:42
• 31 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 6, Bourrée 01:25
• 32 Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 7, Gigue 02:10
• Total Runtime 02:18:42

Info for Bach: Sonatas & Partitas

Newly signed to the naïve label, violinist Fabio Biondi, the celebrated founder and director of Europa Galante, here presents his interpretation of one of the major peaks of the solo violin repertoire: the Sonatas and Partitas of J. S. Bach. For many years a passionate devotee of this Holy Grail of violinists, and having performed many of the works individually in the course of his career, Fabio Biondi is now, at the age of sixty, using his maturely ripened art to record the complete set for the very first time: it is the culmination of long and patient study, as well as of a process of personal development. For years Biondi was intimidated by Bach’s writing for solo violin: so intimate, yet so universal, so close to the essence of things – which the music often expresses through silence and pure, untranslateable sound – and so technically demanding as well.

To reveal the music’s profound meaning, its vitality and contemporaneity, and to share his findings with others: this is what has impelled him to record this album. To complement his musical presentation, he asked Akira Mizubayashi, a Japanese writer of French novels permeated by a musical sensibility, for a newly written work with which to grace the booklet. Most listeners will be familiar with Bach’s double triptych of Sonatas and Partitas, without necessarily knowing them in detail. All the well-known landmarks are here – the famous Bourrée of the First Partita, the challenging Chaconne of the Second, the lively introductory Preludio and sprightly Gavotte en rondeau of the Third Partita. Fabio Biondi makes these thirty-two dances intensely present in his infinitely nuanced interpretation. He casts a radiant light on each piece, fully honouring its dance-like character while flexibly expanding its often polyphonic lines with poetic strokes of the violin bow. Without any superfluous embellishment, at a single breath his masterful playing sets ablaze the full spectrum of forms, textures and tempi, giving life to the music – the most natural life imaginable.

Fabio Biondi, violin

Fabio Biondi
Born in Palermo, Fabio Biondi began his international career at an early age. Driven by a deep cultural curiosity, Fabio Biondi was introduced to pioneers of the new approach to baroque music, an opportunity that was to expand his musical vision and change the direction of his career. Since then, he has performed with ensembles including Cappella Real, Musica Antiqua Wien, Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre (ever since its foundation) all specialising in the performance of baroque music using original technique and instruments.

In 1990, Fabio Biondi founded Europa Galante, an ensemble which, in just a few years thanks to their worldwide concert schedule and extraordinary recording successes, became the most internationally renowned and awarded Italian performers of baroque music. The ensemble has been invited to play at the most important festivals and concert halls around the world, including La Scala in Milan, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House.

Their first record (Vivaldi's concertos) was awarded the 'Premio Cini' of Venice & the 'Choc de la Musique' and was soon followed by a number of other awards such as five Diapasons d’Or, Diapason d’Or de l’Année in France, RTL Prize, 'Record of the Year' nominations in many countries, and the 'Prix du Disque, 'ffff' by the review Telerama. In 2006, their recording of Vivaldi's opera Bajazet was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Fabio Biondi's musical development, taking in both universal repertoire plus the rediscovering of minor composers, spans three centuries of music. This is illustrated in his varied discography: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Corelli's Concerti Grossi, the oratorios, the serenatas and operas of Alessandro Scarlatti (La Messa di Natale, Clori, Dorino e Amore, Massimo Puppieno and Il trionfo dell'onore) Handel's operas (Poro), and the XVIII century Italian violin repertoire (Veracini, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini) as well as sonatas by Bach, Schubert and Schumann. Fabio Biondi embodies the perpetual pursuit of style free from dogmatism and he remains intent in his quest for the original language. It is due to this very approach that he can collaborate as soloist and conductor with many varied orchestras, including Santa Cecilia in Rome, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, European Baroque Orchestra, Opera of Halle, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Norway, Orchestre Nationale of Montpellier and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Next season Fabio Biondi will conduct the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Fabio Biondi also performs in duo with piano, harpsichord or forte-piano in prestigious venues around the world including the Cité de la Musique in Paris, Hogi Hall in Tokyo, Auditorium Nacional in Madrid , Wigmore Hall in London, and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Since March 2005 Fabio Biondi has taken on the role of artistic director for baroque music at the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. With the SSO, he has released a recording of Scarlatti's opera Carlo Re d'Alemagna (diapason d'or winner) and in 2015 a new Glossa recording of the Oratorio of Antonio Caldara “Morte e Sepoltura di Christo”.

From September 2015, Biondi is musical director of the Orchestra del Palau de Las Artes in Valencia, where he will perform Handel’s Silla and Mozart’s Idomeneo and Davidde Penitente in his opening season.

Biondi has been an academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome) since 2011 and in 2015 he was nominated Officer of the National Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.

Fabio Biondi plays an Andrea Guarneri Violin (Cremona,1686 ). He also plays a 1766 Carlo Ferdinando Gagliano Violin, owned by his teacher Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero Foundation in Palermo.

Booklet for Bach: Sonatas & Partitas