Description
This program presents musical portraits of two leading composers of the Baroque period through a selection from their oeuvre for violin and harpsichord: Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1709) and Georg Muffat (1653-1704). Unfortunately, their first meeting in Salzburg was not documented. However, it is known that both talents arrived with different musical backgrounds before spending years in the service of the Archbishopric of Salzburg. Thanks to economic growth and financial strength, the various arts in this sovereign Catholic principality were given extraordinary support, including music. As in all other Baroque centers, it was an integral part of courtly representation. In Salzburg, it also became an important communication channel for the Counter-Reformation.
As a fabulous violinist, Biber preferred his favorite instrument in his compositions and wrote two collections of sonatas that are still part of the basic repertoire of baroque solo literature today: the "Rosenkranz" or "Mysteries" sonatas and the "Sonatae, violino solo", both of which can be heard on the CD with two pieces each. There is also a passacaglia from Muffat's collection "Apparatus Musico-Organisticus", which is just as important for baroque keyboard literature as Biber's aforementioned collections for the violin, as well as Muffat's only surviving violin sonata.
The instruments that meet in this recording come from two worlds: Flora Fabri plays on a harpsichord built in 2015 by Detmar Hungerberg based on Italian models; the violin played by Dora Szilagyi was built in 1765 by Sebastian Klotz in Mittenwald.
