Fabio Biondi is not only a successful director of the Europa Galante, he also still enjoys a fantastic solo career. This release is his sixth...

Fabio Biondi is not only a successful director of the Europa Galante, he also still enjoys a fantastic solo career. This release is his sixth album for Glossa, and is the first to present him as an entirely solo artist. The Telemann Fantasias for Solo Violin were composed when the composer was at his full maturity. Being himself a highly-virtuosic violinist, these works call for high proficiency in both technique and expression. This set of fantasias was published alongside other sets of fantasias for solo instruments, including the flute and viola da gamba. These fantasias were cosmopolitan upon their publication in 1730s Hamburg. The music both embraces the established and revered German polyphonic style, utilizing fugues and multi-part writing, as well as modern trends which leaned more toward Italian influences. Fabio Biondi plays an eighteenth century Ferdinando Gagliano violin. Included in the booklet is an essay from Peter Wollny, Director of the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig.