Gunar Letzbor, Ars Antiqua Austria – Biber: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-8, C. 138-145 (2024) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Gunar Letzbor and his ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria have been working with violin music from the Habsburg Empire for decades, and Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s violin sonatas from 1681 were, as Letzbor himself says, “a milestone in his artistic development”. The first recording was made in 1994 and since then Ars Antiqua Austria has regularly performed this repertoire in concerts. While Biber was still largely unknown at that time, the composer and his work are now considered by audiences to be among the greats of the Baroque era. Biber was highly acclaimed by his contemporaries as a violin virtuoso and as a composer.

His portrait shows a noble man with great charisma and a dignified, proud bearing. However, after many years of studying the violin sonatas, Gunar Letzbor has now gained a completely different impression of Biber’s personality, namely that of a daredevil and avant-garde composer. His violin sonatas are full of wild ideas, formal boundaries are dissolved, the technical demands go beyond all the limits of violin playing of his time. And most importantly, the emotions reach the limits of the emotional range. Gunar Letzbor puts all this experience into his new recording of Biber’s violin sonatas from 1681 and, as with his recording of Biber’s rosary sonatas (see PC 10409), once again presents a reference recording.

Tracklist:
1-01. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: I. — (01:07)
1-02. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: II. — (00:42)
1-03. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: III. Adagio (01:05)
1-04. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: IV. — (01:02)
1-05. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: V. Presto (00:47)
1-06. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: VI. Variatio (06:25)
1-07. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: VII. — (00:47)
1-08. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: VIII. Presto (00:50)
1-09. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, C. 138: IX. Finale (01:42)
1-10. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: I. — (00:47)
1-11. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: II. Aria (01:09)
1-12. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: III. Variatio (03:03)
1-13. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: IV. Adagio (01:21)
1-14. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: V. Forte (01:41)
1-15. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 2 in Dorian Mode, C. 139: VI. Finale (01:23)
1-16. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: I. Adagio (02:11)
1-17. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: II. Aria (02:39)
1-18. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: III. Forte presto (04:28)
1-19. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: IV. Variatio (05:02)
1-20. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: V. — (00:36)
1-21. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 3 in F Major, C. 140: VI. — (00:54)
1-22. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: I. — (01:20)
1-23. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: II. Presto (00:41)
1-24. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: III. Gigue (00:52)
1-25. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: IV. Double (00:56)
1-26. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: V. Più presto (00:38)
1-27. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: VI. Adagio (01:38)
1-28. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: VII. — (00:40)
1-29. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: VIII. Adagio (00:44)
1-30. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: IX. Aria (03:44)
1-31. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 4 in D Major, C. 141: X. Finale (01:26)
2-01. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: I. — (02:41)
2-02. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: II. Allegro, variatio (03:37)
2-03. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: III. Adagio (01:45)
2-04. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: IV. Presto (01:51)
2-05. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 5 in E Minor, C. 142: V. Aria (03:28)
2-06. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: I. — (01:25)
2-07. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: II. Passacagli (05:59)
2-08. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: III. Harpeggio (02:25)
2-09. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: IV. Gavotte (02:08)
2-10. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: V. Adagio (02:04)
2-11. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Minor, C. 143: VI. Allegro (01:55)
2-12. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: I. — (02:13)
2-13. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: II. Aria, presto (02:04)
2-14. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: III. Più presto (01:55)
2-15. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: IV. Adagio (01:47)
2-16. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: V. Più presto (00:38)
2-17. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 7 in G Major, C. 144: VI. Ciacona (05:36)
2-18. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: I. — (01:16)
2-19. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: II. — (02:29)
2-20. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: III. Aria (01:34)
2-21. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: IV. Forte (01:10)
2-22. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: V. Sarabanda (01:00)
2-23. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: VI. Forte, piano (00:51)
2-24. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: VII. Allegro (00:19)
2-25. Ars Antiqua Austria – Violin Sonata No. 8 in A Major, C. 145: VIII. — (02:43)