Piani:
4 Sonatas from Op.1 - (World premiere recordings)

Geminiani:
2 Sonatas from Op.1

Handel:
Sonata HWV 371

Giovanni Antonio Piani (1678–1760) was one of the most important violinists of the Baroque, and his reputation today rests upon the surviving 12 sonatas of his op.1 set published in 1712 (all his other works are lost). In an unusually long and detailed preface to the sonatas, Piani provided highly detailed instructions on bowing, fingering, dynamics, ornamentation and tempi. In effect, this is the most detailed instruction manual for students of the Baroque violin and the performance practice of the day. Piani worked in Paris and Vienna, and is one of the key figures in the French violin school from Lully to Viotti.

Emilio Percan, a member of l’arte del mondo (ONYX 4068), has programmed four Piani sonatas with two contemporary London-based masters – Geminiani and Handel, whose late and great Sonata in D is a masterwork of the late Baroque. Piani’s music is beautifully crafted and melodic, and his works on this CD are receiving their world premiere recordings.

This recording has been endorsed by Viktoria Mullova: ‘Piani’s music was new to me, and it is a wonderful discovery, superbly played by Emilio Percan’.

Percan’s advocacy of these superb and little-known sonatas by Piani will be of interest to those who love Baroque music.