Giorgio Antoniotto:
Sonata in G, Op.1, No.8

Giacobbe Basevi Cervetto:
Divertimento in G, Op.4, No.1

Francesco Geminiani:
Sonata in F, Op.5, No.5

Antonio Vivaldi:
Sonata No.6 in B flat, RV 46

The 18th century experienced a mass migration of musicians from Italy – hitherto regarded as “the home of music” – seeking better fortunes in nations to the north. Giacobbe Basevi Cervetto, Giambatista Cirri and Francesco Geminiani went to London, Luigi Boccherini to Madrid. Antonio Vivaldi aimed for Dresden though never arrived, having died en route in Vienna. These Italian instrumentalists / composers and others are the focus of Out of Italy, a survey of sonatas and duos for two cellos and continuo by eminent baroque cellist Phoebe Carrai and her protégé Beiliang Zhu, many of them quite rare.

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Recording: 26–30 October 2017, Battell Chapel, Norfolk, Connecticut. Phoebe Carrai plays a restored Italian cello from c.1690.