Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
Six Sonates pour violon et piano, op. 5, G 25-30
Six Sonates pour violon et piano, G 46-51
Trois Sonates pour violon et piano
Six Sonates pour violon et basse continue, G 20.1-20.6

Igor Ruhadze, violon baroque
Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya, pianoforte
Ensemble Violini Capricciosi

Igor Ruhadze, violon baroque
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, violoncelle baroque
Alexandr Puliaev, clavecin

Ce premier volume des sonates pour violon de Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) présente vingt-et-une sonates, avec accompagnement au pianoforte pour les quinze premières, et basse continue (violoncelle et clavecin) pour les six dernières. Mais que sont-elles, ces sonates ? Les 6 premières forment l’Opus 5 du célèbre violoncelliste, publiées en 1768 « pour clavecin avec violon obligé » et qui ont connu un grand succès dans toute l’Europe. Pourtant, Boccherini délaissa pendant trente ans le clavecin, avant de composer six quintettes pour piano et cordes, et de reprendre ses premières sonates et de les arranger pour piano et violon. Entre-temps, Boccherini composera des trios pour deux violons et violoncelle, des quatuors et quintettes, et bien sûr ses fameuses sonates pour violoncelle ; certaines de ces oeuvres furent adaptées pour violon et piano, par divers musiciens talentueux, et publiées avec un même succès. Ce sont elles que l’on retrouve dans ces enregistrements. Igor Ruhadze au violon baroque et Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya au pianoforte y font merveille, le son léger et précis du clavier permettant d’entendre la constante inventivité rythmique et mélodique des premières sonates, le jeu du violon s’étoffant dans les suivantes. Les sonates avec accompagnement au violoncelle et piano sont particulièrement réussies. Une oeuvre à découvrir ! (Walter Appel)

The start of a major new series on Brilliant Classics: historically informed accounts of the violin sonatas by a Classical-era master of Rococo charm and invention. Boccherini, still in his mid-20s, dedicated his Op.5 violin sonatas to the Parisian keyboard soloist Mme. Brillon de Jouy. As a result, the keyboard is more than an equal partner with the most showy writing, in the style of the sonatas ‘for piano and violin’ by both Mozart and Beethoven. Boccherini himself thought well enough of these works to draw from them many times throughout his career. Movements from these sonatas appear in reworked guises in other chamber works and symphonies. The other sonatas here came into being later in Boccherini’s career as arrangements of other works by Boccherini made by publishers eager to capitalise on the fame and industry of a composer renowned throughout Europe for his attractive melodic fluency. Several of them are transcriptions of his cello sonatas, though whether the arrangements were made by the composer himself remains a mystery. Other sonatas were skilfully put together from his many string quintets; they made Boccherini’s music accessible to those who could not perform the ensemble works in their original versions. Brilliant Classics has produced the largest ever collection of Boccherini’s works on record with its 37CD edition (94386), which won stunning reviews in the international press. This new set of violin sonatas becomes a vital addition to the Boccherini library of collectors. Each new album by the period-instrument violinist Igor Ruhadze has likewise attracted critical praise, not least in his regular partnership with the Russian-born pianist and harpsichordist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya. Their recording of F.Geminiani Violin Sonatas op.1 received warm critical praise.