Fabio Biondi – Bach: Sonatas & Partitas (2021) [FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz]

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.

Tracklist:
01. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 1, Adagio
02. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 2, Fuga (Allegro)
03. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 3, Siciliana
04. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001: No. 4, Presto
05. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 1, Allemande
06. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 2, Double
07. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 3, Corrente
08. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 4, Double
09. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 5, Sarabande
10. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 6, Double
11. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 7, Bourrée
12. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002: No. 8, Double
13. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 1, Grave
14. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 2, Fuga (Allegro)
15. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 3, Andante
16. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: No. 4, Allegro
17. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 1, Allemande
18. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 2, Corrente
19. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 3, Sarabande
20. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 4, Giga
21. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: No. 5, Ciaccona
22. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 1, Adagio
23. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 2, Fuga (Alla breve)
24. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 3, Largo
25. Fabio Biondi – Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: No. 4, Allegro assai
26. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 1, Preludio
27. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 2, Louré
28. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 3, Gavotte en rondeau
29. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 4, Menuet I
30. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 5, Menuet II
31. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 6, Bourrée
32. Fabio Biondi – Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: No. 7, Gigue