Tessarini: Violin Sonatas

The 18th‐century Italian Carlo Tessarini has only emerged relatively recently as the brilliant musician and composer that he was (thanks, in part, to an in‐depth study published in 2012). He travelled widely, taking on diverse forms of work, and remaining musically active until a ripe old age – remembered by one of his contemporaries as a “lively 70‐year‐old who still regularly played the violin”.

We are treated here to an album consisting almost entirely of world premiere recordings. Within Tessarini’s exclusively instrumental oeuvre, he was in particular a prolific solo sonata writer. His works oscillated between virtuosity and accessibility – reflecting in part the commercial considerations attached to the publication of his work – though there is more than enough of the former here to excite the listener’s ear. Equally manifest is his subtle compositional innovations, such as the fluid approach to melodic counterpoint discernible in the Sonata in C major Op.2. The result is an album sure to convince listeners of the deeper attention that this skilful composer merits.

The sonatas are played by Valerio Losito, an esteemed violinist and viola d’amore player as well as a musicologist, whose first recording for Brilliant Classics was a Scarlatti album in 2011. The basso continuo is played by harpsichordist, professor and radio broadcaster Federico del Sordo.