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DOMENICO SCARLATTI violin sonatas
Boris Begelman
CD720
ARSENALE SONORO
Alexandra Koreneva harpsichord
Ludovico Minasi cello
Cristina Vidoni cello
The place of Domenico Scarlatti in the history of 18th century music is certainly exceptional. This exquisite and imaginative group of works is included in the fourteenth volume of Scarlatti’s manuscript sonatas preserved in the Marciana Library in Venice. Although know as keyboard sonatas, research reveals that they were very likely to have been conceived for performance on the violin – multi-movement works, often showing the presence of figured bass accompaniment, rapid changes of register and numerous passages better suited to a violin than a keyboard instrument all support the theory. This is flashy and virtuosic writing for violin at its finest.
About the artist
“...Begelman is truly the current star of the baroque violin...” - Le Devoir
Boris Begelman has quickly established himself as one of the most interesting violinists of his generation. Born in Moscow, he graduated with honours from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, later specialising in baroque violin at the Scarlatti Conservatory in Palermo and graduating magna cum laude.
As a Concertmaster or soloist he has collaborated with orchestras such as Il Complesso Barocco, Kammerorchester Basel, I Barocchisti, Cappella Mediterranea, and B’Rock Orchestra, working under the direction of Giovanni Antonini, Diego Fasolis, Ottavio Dantone, and Riccardo Minasi, among others. He has performed on international stages such as the Berliner Philarmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysees, the Wiener Musikverein, the Theater an-der-Wien, the Barbican Centre and the Wigmore Hall, the Liceu Theater in Barcelona, the Opera Royal de Versailles, the KKL Luzern, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
He has conducted Accademia Bizantina, Il Pomo d’oro, Academia Montis Regalis, Arion baroque orchestra, and the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, as well as soloists including Vivica Genaux, Max Cenčić, Simone Kermes. Since 2017, Begelman has been the Concertmaster of Rinaldo Alessandrini’s Concerto Italiano, and in March 2022, he performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the National Baroque Orchestra of Italian Conservatories in a concert at EXPO in Dubai.
Begelman has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Sony Classics, Alpha, Erato-Warner, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classics, Aparte, Naïve Classics, and Pentatone. In 2014, he founded the Arsenale Sonoro ensemble, specialised in the performance of the eighteenth-century repertoire, with whom he recorded his first solo album, a selection of Telemann Sonatas for violin and basso continuo (DHM 2015), welcomed by the international press with enthusiastic reviews.
Begelman’s next solo recital album was a complete recording of the Sonatas and Partitas by J. S. Bach (DHM 2017), named among the “discos exceptionales” by the Spanish magazine Scherzo. His latest solo album “Le Nuove vie”, six Vivaldi virtuoso concertos accompanied by Concerto Italiano and conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini, was released in June 2021 by Naïve as part of the prestigious Vivaldi Edition catalogue. The recording has received high acclaim from critics around the world, appearing as a “concerto choice” disc in the September 2021 issue of BBC Music Magazine.