Artist: Gunar Letzbor, Ars Antiqua Austria
Title: Biber: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-8, C. 138-145
Year Of Release: 2024
Label: Pan Classics
Genre: Classical
Quality: flac 24bits - 96.0kHz + Booklet
Total Time: 01:47:40
Total Size: 1.97 gb

Tracklist

CD1
01. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: I. —
02. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: II. —
03. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: III. Adagio
04. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: IV. —
05. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: V. Presto
06. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: VI. Variatio
07. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: VII. —
08. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: VIII. Presto
09. Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: IX. Finale
10. Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: I. —
11. Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: II. Aria
12. Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: III. Variatio
13. Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: IV. Adagio
14. Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: V. Forte
15. Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: VI. Finale
16. Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: I. Adagio
17. Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: II. Aria
18. Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: III. Forte presto
19. Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: IV. Variatio
20. Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: V. —
21. Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: VI. —
22. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: I. —
23. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: II. Presto
24. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: III. Gigue
25. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: IV. Double
26. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: V. Più presto
27. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: VI. Adagio
28. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: VII. —
29. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: VIII. Adagio
30. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: IX. Aria
31. Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: X. Finale

CD2
01. Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: I. —
02. Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: II. Allegro, variatio
03. Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: III. Adagio
04. Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: IV. Presto
05. Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: V. Aria
06. Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: I. —
07. Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: II. Passacagli
08. Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: III. Harpeggio
09. Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: IV. Gavotte
10. Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: V. Adagio
11. Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: VI. Allegro
12. Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: I. —
13. Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: II. Aria, presto
14. Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: III. Più presto
15. Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: IV. Adagio
16. Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: V. Più presto
17. Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: VI. Ciacona
18. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: I. —
19. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: II. —
20. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: III. Aria
21. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: IV. Forte
22. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: V. Sarabanda
23. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: VI. Forte, piano
24. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: VII. Allegro
25. Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: VIII. —

Gunar Letzbor and his ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria have been working with violin music from the Habsburg Empire for decades, and Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber's violin sonatas from 1681 were, as Letzbor himself says, "a milestone in his artistic development". The first recording was made in 1994 and since then Ars Antiqua Austria has regularly performed this repertoire in concerts. While Biber was still largely unknown at that time, the composer and his work are now considered by audiences to be among the greats of the Baroque era. Biber was highly acclaimed by his contemporaries as a violin virtuoso and as a composer.

His portrait shows a noble man with great charisma and a dignified, proud bearing. However, after many years of studying the violin sonatas, Gunar Letzbor has now gained a completely different impression of Biber's personality, namely that of a daredevil and avant-garde composer. His violin sonatas are full of wild ideas, formal boundaries are dissolved, the technical demands go beyond all the limits of violin playing of his time. And most importantly, the emotions reach the limits of the emotional range. Gunar Letzbor puts all this experience into his new recording of Biber's violin sonatas from 1681 and, as with his recording of Biber's rosary sonatas (see PC 10409), once again presents a reference recording.