Leclair: Violin Concertos, Op. 7 Nos. 1, 3, 4 & 5 Europa Galante Orchestra & Fabio Biondi

• Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764): Violin Concerto in C Major, Op. 7 No. 3:
• 1 Violin Concerto in C Major, Op. 7 No. 3: I. Allegro 06:26
• 2 Violin Concerto in C Major, Op. 7 No. 3: II. Adagio 05:34
• 3 Violin Concerto in C Major, Op. 7 No. 3: III. Allegro assai 03:42
• Violin Concerto in F Major, Op. 7 No. 4:
• 4 Violin Concerto in F Major, Op. 7 No. 4: I. Allegro moderato 05:31
• 5 Violin Concerto in F Major, Op. 7 No. 4: II. Adagio 05:45
• 6 Violin Concerto in F Major, Op. 7 No. 4: III. Allegro 03:40
• Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 5:
• 7 Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 5: I. Vivace 05:52
• 8 Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 5: II. Largo 04:55
• 9 Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 5: III. Allegro assai 04:37
• Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 7 No. 1:
• 10 Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 7 No. 1: I. Allegro 04:12
• 11 Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 7 No. 1: II. Aria: Gratioso 04:37
• 12 Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 7 No. 1: III. Vivace 04:30
• Total Runtime 59:21

Info for Leclair: Violin Concertos, Op. 7 Nos. 1, 3, 4 & 5

Jean-Marie Leclair epitomized the idea of an eighteenth-century virtuoso-composer, one whose compositional output largely reflects his activity as a performer. Whilst the French school possessed precursors such as Jean-Féry Rebel, it is very much to Leclair that it owes its genuine development. The virtuoso violinist became a highly sought-after teacher, and a full generation of musicians were recipients of his teaching.

Leclair published twelve concertos for violin in two sets, Op 7 (c.1737) and Op 10 (c.1743). The Op 7 collection, of which four concertos have been included in this recording, is without doubt partially made up of works which Leclair performed at the Concert Spirituel between 1728 and 1736.

Today, we are aware of the sytle employed by Leclair in his violin playing through his own writings and concert reviews from the time. His uncompromising ideal of performance is of a truly Appolonian nature: precision and integrity in execution, economy with the use of effects, accurate intonation and nobility of expression – all features brought to this new recording by Fabio Biondi and his already legendary ensemble, Europa Galante. The scholar Louis Castelain of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles provides the booklet notes.

Fabio Biondi, solo violin & direction
Europa Galante

Fabio Biondi
Born in Palermo, Fabio Biondi began his international career at an early age. Driven by an deep cultural curiosity, Fabio Biondi was introduced to pioneers of the new approach to baroque music, an opportunity that was to expand his musical vision and change the direction of his career. Since then, he has performed with ensembles including Cappella Real, Musica Antiqua Wien, Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre (ever since its foundation) all specialising in the performance of baroque music using original technique and instruments.

In 1990, Fabio Biondi founded Europa Galante, an ensemble which, in just a few years thanks to their worldwide concert schedule and extraordinary recording successes, became the most internationally renowned and awarded Italian performers of baroque music. The ensemble has been invited to play at the most important festivals and concert halls around the world, including La Scala in Milan, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House.

Their first record (Vivaldi's concertos) was awarded the 'Premio Cini' of Venice & the 'Choc de la Musique' and was soon followed by a number of other awards such as five Diapasons d’Or, Diapason d’Or de l’Année in France, RTL Prize, 'Record of the Year' nominations in many countries, and the 'Prix du Disque, 'ffff' by the review Telerama. In 2006, their recording of Vivaldi's opera Bajazet was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Fabio Biondi's musical development, taking in both the universal repertoire plus the rediscovering of minor composers, spans three centuries of music. This is illustrated in his varied discography: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Corelli's Concerti Grossi, the oratorios, the serenatas and operas of Alessandro Scarlatti (La Messa di Natale, Clori, Dorino e Amore, Massimo Puppieno and Il trionfo dell'onore) Handel's operas (Poro), and the XVIII century Italian violin repertoire (Veracini, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini) as well as sonatas by Bach, Schubert and Schumann. Fabio Biondi embodies the perpetual pursuit of style free from dogmatism and he remains intent in his quest for the original language. It is due to this very approach that he can collaborate as soloist and conductor with many varied orchestras, including Santa Cecilia in Rome, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, European Baroque Orchestra, Opera of Halle, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Norway, Orchestre Nationale of Montpellier and Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Next season Fabio Biondi will also conduct l'Orchestra del Maggio Musicale, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Real Philarmonica de Galicia, Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia and the English Concert.

Fabio Biondi also performs in duo with piano, harpsichord or forte-piano in prestigious venues around the world including the Cité de la Musique in Paris, Hogi Hall in Tokyo, Auditorium Nacional in Madrid and Wigmore Hall in London. In 2014 he will perform a Bach sonatas program in duo with Kenneth Weiss, in Europe and the United States. Since March 2005 Fabio Biondi has taken on the role of artistic director for baroque music at the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and from 2011, he is also academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome).

Fabio Biondi plays an Andrea Guarneri Violin (Cremona,1686 ). He also plays a 1766 Carlo Ferdinando Gagliano Violin, owned by his teacher Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero Foundation in Palermo.

Europa Galante
was founded in 1990 by its musical director Fabio Biondi who wanted to form an Italian period instrument ensemble to perform both baroque and classical repertoire. The ensemble has a varying structure and often performs chamber music such as the string sonatas of Italian composers of the seventeenth century.

The ensemble’s repertoire includes the operas of Handel such as Agrippina and Imeneo as well as Vivaldi including Bazajet, Ercole sul Termodonte, Oracolo in Messenia and many pre-eighteenth century instrumental works. The group is also widely known for its performances of the works of Alessandro Scarlatti such as the oratorios (Maddalena, La Santissima Trinità), serenatas (Clori, Dorino e Amore) and operas including Massimo Puppieno, Il Trionfo dell'Onore, La Principessa Fedele and Carlo Re d'Allemagna.


Europa Galante collaborates regularly with the Fondazione Santa Cecilia in Rome to rediscover and restore eighteenth-century Italian operas such as Antonio Caldara's La Passione di Gesù Cristo, L. Leo's Sant'Elena al Calvario, or Gesu sotto il peso Della Croce by F.di Mayo. This year in Rome the ensemble presented La Foresta Incantata by Francesco Geminiani, together by an animated film by Fabio Biondi and the director Davide Livermore.

Europa Galante has performed in many of the world's major concert halls and theatres including La Scala in Milan, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House. The ensemble has toured throughout Australia, Japan, Europe, Canada, Israel, the USA and South America.

Ever since the release of its first record dedicated to Vivaldi concertos, the ensemble has received worldwide recognition, gaining an impressive list of awards in their first five years such as Choc de la Musique , 5 Diapason d’Or, Diapason d’Or of the year and nominations for record of the year in Spain, Canada, Switzerland, Finland and the Grand Prix du disque de l'académie Charles Cros. After working with the French record company Opus 111, Europa Galante now collaborates exclusively with Virgin Classics, a partnership which has lasted 15 years.

The ensemble has been nominated twice for a Grammy, first in 2004 with its record of Vivaldi's Concerti con molti strumenti and then in 2006 for its recording of Vivaldi’s Bajazet. The most recent release, Vivaldi's opera L'Oracolo in Messenia has received the Diapason D'Or and has been critically acclaimed. Their next recording projects include Francesco Maria Veracini’s opera Adriano in Siria (which will be recorded live with a top class cast including Genaux, Hallenberg, Prina and Basso) and the concertos composed by different composers for Chiara, an exceptional violinist orphan of La Pietà and most talented pupil of Vivaldi.

This season, Europa Galante will tour Europe (including Switzerland, Romania, Poland, France and Spain), Asia and the U.S. with instrumental and vocal repertoire such as Handel's Imeneo (Germany, Poland), Veracini's opera Adriano in Siria (Austria,Krakow ) and Donizetti's Anna Bolena in Spain and Italy.

Booklet for Leclair: Violin Concertos, Op. 7 Nos. 1, 3, 4 & 5