Fontana: Complete Sonatas For Violin and B.c.

- Giovanni Battista Fontana was an early Baroque Italian composer and violinist.

- He was born in Brescia, and was active in his home town, Rome, Venice, and Padua. He died in Padua during the plague in the years of 1629–1631.

- Fontana’s only existing works are the collection of 18 sonatas, published in Venice in 1641. The sonatas are for violin and a rich basso continuo, existing of viola da gamba, cello, theorbo, dulcian, flute, harpsichord or organ. Fontana’s style tends to the unusual, to the surprise, using passages rich in fantasy, unexpected changes of “affetti” and sudden explosions of virtuosity after sections of meditative character. According to Willi Apel, “Fontana is probably the most important composer of early Baroque violin music, having mastered both the virtuoso and cantabile style of the violin”.

- Bolivian violinist Neyza Copa specialized in Baroque violin, in particular “lo stile italiano”, with the study of historical treatises, basso continuo, improvisation, and diminution technique. Neyza is artistic director of the Lux Terrae Baroque Ensemble, with which she has an intense concert activity dedicated particularly to Italian baroque music and “Mission Baroque”.

• Fontana, G B: Sonatas (18) in 1, 2, 3 Parts