For her debut album, Karen Gomyo has joined forces with guitarist Ismo Eskelinen in a programme offering fireworks as well as graceful tenderness. A violin virtuoso as well as an expert guitar player, Niccolo Paganini wrote a number of works for the two instruments together. He thus forms a natural point of departure as Gomyo and Eskelinen embark on a journey some hundred years backwards in history, and offer works by three other famous Italian violinist-composers. Neither the violin sonatas by Vivaldi and Locatelli nor Corelli's celebrated 'La Follia' were written specifically with the guitar in mind. They are instead provided with so-called basso continuo accompaniments, to be performed on various chord-playing instruments, such as the harpsichord or the organ. Larger continuo ensembles might also include a lute or a guitar, and it is to this tradition that Ismo Eskelinen harks back as he performs his own realizations of these accompaniments. With one exception, the works by Paganini are on the other hand intended for the combination of violin and guitar - or, in the case of the Grand Sonata, 'per chitarra e violino'. The centrepiece of the disc is formed by the famous 24th Caprice, provided by the composer with a guitar accompaniment and renamed Variazioni di bravura. Another favourite closes the disc, as Karen Gomyo and Ismo Eskelinen perform their version for violin and guitar of Il carnevale di Venezia, Paganini's take on a Neapolitan folk song.

Tracklist:

Violin Sonata In A Major, Op. 2 No. 2, Rv 31: I. Preludio Á Capriccio
Violin Sonata In A Major, Op. 2 No. 2, Rv 31: II. Corrente
Violin Sonata In A Major, Op. 2 No. 2, Rv 31: III. Adagio
Violin Sonata In A Major, Op. 2 No. 2, Rv 31: IV. Giga
Violin Sonata In D Minor, Op. 6 No. 12: I. Adagio
Violin Sonata In D Minor, Op. 6 No. 12: II. Allegro
Violin Sonata In D Minor, Op. 6 No. 12: III. Andante
Violin Sonata In D Minor, Op. 6 No. 12: IV. Allegro
Centone Di Sonate, Op. 64, Ms 112, Sonata No. 1 In A Major: I. Introduzione
Centone Di Sonate, Op. 64, Ms 112, Sonata No. 1 In A Major : II. Allegro Maestoso
Centone Di Sonate, Op. 64, Ms 112, Sonata No. 1 In A Major: III. Rondoncino
Violin Sonata In A Major, Op. 2 No. 1, Ms 26: I. Minuetto. Adagio
Violin Sonata In A Major, Op. 2 No. 1, Ms 26: II. Polonese. Quasi Allegro
24 Caprices For Solo Violin, Op. 1, Ms 25 (Arr. For Violin & Guitar): No. 24 In A Minor
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Theme
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 1
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 2
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 6
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 8
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 9
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 10
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 11
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 12
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 13
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 14
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 15
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 16
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 17
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 18
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 19
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 20
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 21
Violin Sonata In D Minor "La Folia", Op. 5 No. 12: Var. 22
Grand Sonata In A Major, Ms 3 (Excerpts): II. Romance. Più Tosto Largo, Amorosamente
Grand Sonata In A Major, Ms 3 (Excerpts): III. Andantino Variato. Scherzando
Il Carnevale Di Venezia, Op. 10, Ms 59 (Excerpts Arr. For Violin & Guitar)

UPC: 7318599919980
Label: Bis
Release Date: 11.1.19
Format: CD

Corelli / Gomyo / Eskelinen - Carnival (CD)