Antonio Duni and his better-known
younger brother, Egidio, were sons of
Francesco Duni, kapellmeister of the
Matera Cathedral from the early 18th
century. Antonio studied music in Naples
as was the established practice at the time
and as a composer and violinist himself
became a kapellmeister. An extraordinary
talent and restless genius, he left Naples
in search of fortune, moving to Barcelona,
then Vienna, then Madrid where in 1726
he became Master of the Royal Chapel;
he then moved on to Paris, Trier and again
Madrid, where in 1736 he befriended
the famous singer and composer
Carlo Broschi Farinelli, becoming director
and choirmaster to the Duke of Osuna.
By 1757 Antonio Duni could be found in
Moscow, where he was commissioned by
the rector of Moscow University to found
the Moscow University Choir, a task that
was to occupy him for more than eight
years. This was followed by a short stay
in Riga on the Baltic Sea and possibly a
trip to China. From 1765 he moved with
his wife and four children permanently
to Schwerin in Germany, where in severe
financial straits he died around 1766.
The recent discovery of the 6 Sonatas is
thanks to Thomas Suárez, a descendant
of the Duni family on his mother’s side,
who, upon discovering a microfilm of
the only printed edition in the Moscow
State Library in 2019 produced the
modern edition from which this recording
was performed. The Sonatas were
printed in Paris at the M.lle Vendôme
Publishing House (most active between
the years 1737–1762), and the fact that the
printed manuscript was found in Moscow
suggests that Antonio Duni brought it
with him on beginning his stay in the
Russian capital (1757–65), suggesting the
composition of the sonatas predates 1757.
The six sonatas each feature four
movements in the Corellian
pattern, Lento – Veloce – Lento – Veloce.
The melodic line presents cantabile
themes that are never banal or “mannered”,
characterised by a strikingly original
creativity on harmonic, phraseological
and formal levels. The extremely precise
articulation indications and passages
modulating to keys not often frequented
in the Baroque period make for challenging
and interesting interpretative work.
Taking up the subtitle’s given option for
flute in place of violin, this recording
divides the sonatas between the two solo
instruments.
Recorded May 2023 in Sammichele di
Bari and Matera, Italy
Booklet in English contains liner notes
on the works Thomas Suárez and on
the composer by Claudia Di Lorenzo and
Natalia Bonello along with a profile of the
ensemble
The Italian liner notes & biography are
available at www.brilliantclassics.com