RESPIGHI: Violin Sonatas [CD de audio] Fabio Paggioro, Massimiliano Ferrati and Respighi

Ottorino Respighi is best known for his lush, expansive orchestral works, such as the Roman Trilogy, but he was also an important composer of chamber and hall music. His musical education began with learning the violin and piano as a child, and for the first 20 years of his career as a composer he only wrote for these instruments. He was an accomplished violinist, and his mastery of the instrument is evident in the idiomatic violin writing heard in the works on this album. Respighi's violin sonatas demonstrate the surprisingly wide range of his musical interests and influences on his style: from early music, through German Romanticism, to Impressionist colours. They are also a showcase for his remarkable gift for melody. The Sonata in D minor dates from Respighi's early days and contrasts lively and energetic outer movements with a soft and passionate Adagio. The Sonata in B minor, composed 20 years later, is a larger, more intense and dramatic work, and is testament to Respighi's mature mastery of chamber music. The two violin sonatas are complemented by the Six Pieces for violin and piano: these elegant and charming works show Respighi's lighter side. These works are performed by the award-winning violinist Fabio Paggioro and the acclaimed pianist Massimiliano Ferrati, who has been praised by the Corriere della Sera for his highly refined sound [que] becomes magic.