On her new album entitled Tutta Sola, violinist Rachel Podger plays solo repertoire from five European composers who all lived to celebrate new year’s eve in 1700. It is a wonderful baroque programme of selected solo violin pieces, preludes, dances and fugal movements. One person, at least with regards to the repertoire for Baroque violin, springs immediately to mind: Johann Sebastian Bach. But the German composer was not the only composer to experiment with ‘senza basso’ – music without accompanying bass –, and neither was he the first. In addition to Johann Sebastian Bach, this recording features solo violin music from Johann Joseph Vilsmayr, Nicola Matteis Jr., Johann Paul von Westhoff, and Giuseppe Tartini. Each of them were remarkable violinists in their own right, too. Rachel Podger’s previous solo album was hailed by BBC Music Magazine as “A breathtaking interpretation of Bach’s Cello Suites. A spellbinding set that is arguably Podger's finest recorded achievement to date". It was included in The Guardian’s Top 10 Best Classical CDs of the Year 2019.
Works:
•Bach, J S: Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV565
•Matteis the Younger: Fantasia in C minor
•Tartini: Sonata Piccole, Op. 26 No. 17 'Del Tasso'
•Vilsmayr: Artificiosus Concentus pro Camera a Violin Solo
•Westhoff: Suite for Solo Violin No. 2 in A major