Dal Barba: Violin Sonatas

Daniel Pio Dal Barba (1715-1801) was a composer of sacred music towards the end of the 18th century, especially thanks to his position as Maestro di Cappella of Verona Cathedral, which he assumed in 1762, at the age of forty-seven. To this prestigious position, Dal Barba had arrived after a career as a composer of operas (mainly destined for the theatres of Venice), a singer and an appreciated violinist.

The Violin Sonatas by Dal Barba presented on this album provide an overview of the violin art in northern Italy that is still little known and obscured by the classical and virtuosic style introduced first by Giuseppe Tartini and later by Niccolò Paganini. Dal Barba's musical language renounces any contrapuntal pretensions; rather, it is devoted exclusively to drawing up a harmonic-melodic profile it adopts the typical characteristics of the Neapolitan galant style - a true musical novelty that was imported to Venice as early as the early 1730s, indulging in melodious invention and instrumental brilliance.

Played by Early Music Specialist Valerio Losito and an ensemble directed by Federico Del Sordo, who already successfully recorded similar repertoire for Brilliant Classics by Tessarini, Veracini and Domenico Scarlatti.

• Barba: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major
• Barba: Violin Sonata No. 3 in G major
• Barba: Violin Sonata No. 4 in E major
• Barba: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major
• Barba: Violin Sonata No. 6 in A major