For those of you not in the know, Sebastian Bohren’s new album La folia is an affectionate homage – to Ida Haendel, one of his heroes; to fiddlers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and to the violin itself.

Indeed, the Swiss violinist says, “It is also like a hall of mirrors, as some tracks invoke the spirits of two or three violinists.”

From an early age, Sebastian was immersed in a lineage of violinists who favored Romantic transcriptions of Baroque repertoire, studying with a pupil of the great Ukranian-born violinist Nathan Milstein.

Later in life, he fell under the influence of violinist Ida Haendel on YouTube, watching her perform Corelli’s La folia variations. “She played this amazing virtuoso cadenza, and I was captivated.”

So arose the concept of a program reflecting the ethos of La folia, the ear-catching theme which has fascinated composers for centuries, from the Baroque era’s Tomaso Antonio Vitali and Giuseppe Tartini to latter-day Ottorino Respighi and Fritz Kreisler.

FRITZ KREISLER (1875–1962)
1. Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani (5:56)
arr. violin & strings Manuel Naegeli

TOMASO ANTONIO VITALI (1663–1745)
2. Chaconne in G minor (10:52)
arr. violin & strings Peter Petrof, after the violin & piano arr. by Léopold Charlier

MARIA THERESIA VON PARADIS (1759–1824) (attrib.)
3. Sicilienne (3:27)
arr. violin & strings Mariana Rudakevych
Sebastian Bohren, violin
Stringendo Zürich
Jens Lohmann, conductor

ARCANGELO CORELLI (1653–1713)
4. Violin Sonata in D minor Op .5 No .12 ‘La Folia’ (11:28)
arr. violin & strings Mariana Rudakevych, after the violin & piano arr. by Hubert Léonard (‘La Folia: Variations sérieuses’); cadenza: H. Léonard

GIUSEPPE TARTINI (1692–1770)
Violin Sonata in A GT 2 .A16
arr. violin & strings Ottorino Respighi (‘Pastorale’ P.86)
5. I . Grave (3:41)
6. II . Allegro sostenuto (2:30)
7. III . Largo (4:18)

Violin Sonata in G minor GT 2 .g05 ‘Devil’s Trill’
arr. violin & strings Ingolf Turban & Holger Frey; cadenza: F. Kreisler
8. I . Andante (4:17)
9. II . Allegro (3:06)
10. III . Andante–Allegroassai (7:47)

FRITZ KREISLER
11. Variations on a theme of Corelli in the Style of Tartini (3:48)
arr. violin & strings Mariana Rudakevych

With Sebastian capturing the sound world with sincerity, playing on two different violins, the 1710 “King George” Stradivarius, and a Guadagnini made in 1761, together with the CHAARTS Chamber Artists, he opens on extraordinarily beautiful Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani (Fritz Kreisler) and then backs that up with the quieter, achingly sterner fare of Chaconne in G minor (Tomaso Antonio Vitali), the almost ethereal Sicilienne (Maria Theresia Von Paradis) and then comes the centerpiece, the ornately succulent, opulently crafted Violin Sonata in D minor Op .5 No .12 ‘La Folia’ (Arcangelo Corelli).

Up next is the fascinatingly playful, yet at all times dulcet and restrained three-part Violin Sonata in A GT 2 .A16 (Giuseppe Tartini) which is itself followed by the triumphant euphoria within the three-part Violin Sonata in G minor GT 2 .g05 ‘Devil’s Trill’ (both by Giuseppe Tartini), the new recording coming to a righteous close on the fruitfully abundant melodies found within Variations on a theme of Corelli in the Style of Tartini (Fritz Kreisler).

www.sebastianbohren.ch

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