Alongside his success directing Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi's sixth CD for Glossa is the first to showcase his talents as a solo violinist.

Telemann’s 'Fantasias for Solo Violin' are reflections both of his full maturity as a composer and of being a highly proficient violinist himself The exceptionally prolific composer published sets of fantasias for solo instruments – flute, viola da gamba as well as violin – without basso continuo in Hamburg in the 1730s. The dozen fantasias recorded here are written for an unaccompanied instrument and manage to embrace both the long-established polyphonic German style – with fugues and multi-part writing for the violin – and the more modern Italian stile galante.

Fabio Biondi plays a Ferdinando Gagliano violin from the 18th century, recorded in June 2015 by Fabio Framba in the Brescian Chiesa di Sant’ Eufemia, Corte Franca in Italy.

If Telemann’s violin music has been greatly overlooked on record it can have no better champion than Fabio Biondi and this Glossa CD booklet also benefits from an essay from the Director of the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig, Peter Wollny.