Leila Schayegh

The violinist Leila Schayegh has already impressively demonstrated her Bach expertise several years ago with her recording of the Sonatas BWV 1014-1019, which won the Diapason dor de lanne, the Editors Choice and was also included in the prestigious Bestenliste der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Now she is venturing into Bachs Sei solo, better known as Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, the monumental BWV 1001-1006 this is THE solo benchmark violin music which is a must for every violinist, whether or not they specialize in historical performance practice. Here again, her approach and technical perfection are an impressive proof of Bachs Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by no means having been exhausted, yet, as new brilliant performers such as her will always shed new light on these wonderful pieces.

Who doesn't like the ciaccona, ciacona or chaconne - the exuberant dance in which the upper voices fantasize over a bass scheme, imitating and inspiring each other. The ciaconna, which may have come to Spain from South America, quickly spread throughout Europe and even found it's way into popular music. Leila Shayegh and her musician friends from La Centifolia play a whole round of chaconnas, some famous, some unknown, by Bertali, Purcell, Schmelzer Matteis, Corelli or anonymous composers from the famous collection from the "Schrank no. 2" in Dresden. The climax and conclusion is the famous "Canon" (with "Gigue", which is usually neglected) by Johann Pachelbel, played with a liveliness and transparency that is rarely heard in this frequently played piece!

Leila Schayegh, Václav Luks, and Felix Knecht present four of Franz Benda’s violin sonatas (and a movement extracted from another sonata) from a collection of 34 ornamented examples of the genre included in manuscript form among the holdings of the Berlin State Library. The ornamentation, provided for both the slow movements, for which Benda earned a reputation, as well as for faster ones, could serve as a sort of compendium of German period practice (Schayegh’s own notes suggest that the works hail from about 1760).

Despite the elite circle of friends and colleagues – which included Corelli, Valentini, Scarlatti, Locatelli, and even Handel – that surrounded Giovanni Mossi, his fame as a composer did not last much beyond his 1742 death. As a violinist himself, it was only natural that his first published set of works would be a set of six sonatas for violin with cello and harpsichord. The influence of Corelli on Mossi's works is clear, yet Mossi branched out from the more rigid movement structure used by Corelli and did more to explore neighboring tonal areas. Performing these six charming works is Baroque violinist Leila Schayegh joined by violinist Ilze Grudele and harpsichordist Jörg Halobek.

Two rising stars in today’s firmament of Baroque music performance, Leila Schayegh and Jörg Halubek, join forces to record one of the major challenges in their joint repertory: the six Bach Violin Sonatas, BWV 1014-1019. The collection’s title, 'Sei Suonate à Cembalo certato è Violino Solo', reflects the close partnership demanded of the violin and harpsichord players, with Bach moving away from the idea of continuo support for a solo instrument and constantly making new technical demands on the musicians and thereby approaching the concept of the triosonata.