A unique collection of Italian violin sonatas from the 19th and 20th centuries in stylish, indigenous, modern studio recordings.

Brilliant Classics comprehensively explores the chamber music traditions of France and Italy in box sets dedicated to violin and cello sonatas by famous and unknown composers. When composing violin sonatas in the 19th and 20th centuries, Italian composers naturally drew on an incomparable heritage of violin compositions, dating back not only to Paganini but also to the virtuoso violinists of the Baroque such as Corelli and Geminiani.

In the mid-19th century, however, the sonata for two instruments became associated with forms and styles developed in Germany and Austria, especially in the generations after Beethoven. Italian composers attempted to balance these influences in their own compositions; they wanted to demonstrate a fusion of native Italian cantabile compositions for the violin with large-scale formal ambitions adopted from Germany.

The composers in this series have all achieved such a fusion in their own style. A phenomenal virtuoso, Antonio Bazzini wrote primarily with performance in mind, but his sonata is elegantly structured according to classical principles.

Ferruccio Busoni had already moved to Germany when he wrote his pivotal second sonata, but the wild spirit of the tarantella still pervades its scherzo. He and Respighi both drew on Bach and the Baroque period as a source of inspiration for a new spirit of neoclassicism. Meanwhile, other composers such as Wolf-Ferrari and Pilati wrote lengthy narratives in the style of Brahms. Even well into the 20th century, Brahms remained the model for chamber music composers such as Sinigaglia and Bartolucci, who rejected modernist fragmentation.

The rich chromaticism of César Franck had its own appeal for composers such as Margola, who were more open to Wagnerian innovations. A Parisian influence can be felt in several composers such as Esposito and Santoliquido. Finally, a more complicated approach to harmony in the style of Bartók's compositions for the violin brings the sonatas of Castenuovo-Tedesco and Riccardo Malipiero up to date for their time.

All of these recordings are from previous Brilliant Classics albums, which have been praised for the finesse of their technique and performance. Compiled in this box, with a new essay by Peter Quantrill, they tell a lively and exciting story of the development of the Italian violin sonata over a century and more.

- A new installment in the "Italian Romantics" series, paying tribute to the rich heritage of instrumental music (as opposed to vocal and operatic music) by Italian composers in the Romantic/Late Romantic period.
- This comprehensive 7-CD set presents violin sonatas by Bazzini (1818-1897), Busoni (1866-1924), Castenuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), Esposito (1913-1981), Malipiero (1882-1973), Margola (1908-1992), Pilati (1903-1938), Respighi (1879-1936), Santoliquido (1883-1971), Santorsola (1904-1994), Scalero (1870-1954), Sinigaglia (1868-1944) and Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948).

A generous survey of full-blooded Romantic music, often rooted in German Romanticism, but always burning with Mediterranean passion and warmth. - Performed by Italian musicians of international renown: Mauro Tortorelli, Luca Fanfoni, Davide Alogna, Fabrizio Falasca, Carmelo Andriani and others.