Vivaldi 12 Sonate Op. 3

Jean-Pierre Rampal is often considered the greatest flutist of the modern era. In addition to his exceptional talent, he raised the flute to unprecedented solo status, popularizing the flute literature, the flute recital and flute recordings. The rediscovery of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoire for the flute is one of his outstanding achievements, as well as his numerous collaborations with composers; over 100 works have been written for and premiered by him. He recorded for Erato from the mid-1950s, with many discs receiving awards internationally.

“Smoky”, “vaporous”: the search for a sound for our bass quartet has been inspired by these words. How can we blend the violone (an imposing six-stringed bass viol, with a register close to that of the double bass), the viola da gamba and the cello into a common, homogeneous sound without losing the singularity of the grain of each string? How could we create a bond between each part, each instrument, to mgive the sonatas their fullest colours? This particular search for sonorities is a search for a means to blend the musical parts, thus creating a compact but intelligible texture.

Freiburger Barockorchester (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) is a German orchestra founded in 1987, with the mission statement: "to enliven the world of baroque music with new sounds". They are based in Freiburg im Breisgau, hence the name, and have recently started performed works by later composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Weber as well as contemporary music.