Pyrotechnia: Fire & Fury from 18th Century Italy Bojan Čičić & The Illyria Consort

• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 205 "fatto per Maestro Pisendel":
• 1Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 205 "fatto per Maestro Pisendel": I. Allegro05:22
• 2Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 205 "fatto per Maestro Pisendel": II. Largo02:44
• 3Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 205 "fatto per Maestro Pisendel": III. Allegro - Capriccio (Cadenza from Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 772)06:28
• Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 213a "per Signora Anna Maria":
• 4Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 213a "per Signora Anna Maria": I. Allegro (Reconstructed by Olivier Fourés)04:08
• 5Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 213a "per Signora Anna Maria": II. Largo (Reconstructed by Olivier Fourés)04:35
• 6Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 213a "per Signora Anna Maria" : III. Allegro – Cadenza (Reconstructed by Olivier Fourés)05:24
• Giuseppe Tartini (1692 - 1770): Violin Concerto in E Major, D 48 "Rondinella vaga e bella":
• 7Tartini: Violin Concerto in E Major, D 48 "Rondinella vaga e bella": I. Allegro07:17
• 8Tartini: Violin Concerto in E Major, D 48 "Rondinella vaga e bella": II. Largo02:45
• 9Tartini: Violin Concerto in E Major, D 48 "Rondinella vaga e bella" : III. Allegro – Capriccio07:17
• Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695 - 1764): Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 3 No. 12 "Il laberinto armonico":
• 10Locatelli: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 3 No. 12 "Il laberinto armonico": I. Allegro – Capriccio08:17
• 11Locatelli: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 3 No. 12 "Il laberinto armonico": II. Largo – Presto03:38
• 12Locatelli: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 3 No. 12 "Il laberinto armonico": III. Allegro – Capriccio14:48
• Total Runtime01:12:43

Info for Pyrotechnia: Fire & Fury from 18th Century Italy

Contemporary accounts of the violin playing of Antonio Vivaldi, the ‘Red Priest’, show the extent to which he raised the instrument to hitherto unknown extremes of soloistic virtuosity – able, in its spontaneity and sonorous brilliance, to hold its own against an orchestra in fiery and unforgettably dramatic confrontations.

Thanks to Vivaldi’s pupils, eager to imitate the master’s wilder imaginings, several of his improvised cadenzas have been preserved. Here, they inspire typically white-hot performances from Bojan Čičić and The Illyria Consort of four violin concertos by Vivaldi, Tartini and Locatelli which all have movements ending in a ‘capriccio’ – a sequence designed to show that the idea of a virtuosic display cadenza, usually associated with the classical concerto of a later period, had already developed during the first half of the eighteenth century. Fittingly, the album’s title is borrowed from John Babington, author of the earliest guide to fireworks published in Europe – Pyrotechnia!

Bojan Čičić, violin
The Illyria Consort

Bojan Čičić
Known for his intelligent and virtuosic playing on both the violin and viola d'amore, Bojan Cicic specialises in repertoire ranging from the late 16th century to the Romantic period.

He has been a guest leader and soloist with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the King's Consort and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, working closely with conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock and Richard Egarr. He has appeared many times as a director with the Academy of Ancient Music and the European Union Baroque Orchestra.

He has featured as a leader on numerous recordings with ensemble Florilegium, La Nuova Musica, and the Arcangelo Consort. His recording of J.S. Bach’s Concerto for two violins with Rachel Podger was recently named the best available recording by BBC Music Magazine.

Bojan's own group, the Illyria Consort, recently made their first disc with Delphian Records, a groundbreaking recording of Carbonelli's virtuosic violin sonatas that will be released in June 2017. The Illyria Consort explores rare repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries from the Venetian Republic and Habsburg Empire, and have performed at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Korkyra Baroque Festival, Festival Laus Polyphoniae, and at the Festival de Sablé.

Future projects include directing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the European Union Baroque Orchestra and performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with the Instruments of Time and Truth. Bojan plays a violin by Rugieri from the 1680s, kindly loaned to him by the Jumpstart Junior Foundation.

Bojan has established himself in recent years as an expert teacher. He was recently appointed Professor of Baroque Violin at the Royal College of Music, and is passionate about training the next generation of instrumentalists in historically-informed playing styles.

The Illyria Consort
Bojan Cicic founded The Illyria Consort, formerly known as Suonar Cantando, to explore rare repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. The group has recently appeared at the Korkyra Baroque Festival and the Antwerp Laus Polyphoniae Festival with a programme of 16th and 17th-century Adriatic music, and has also toured Holland and Belgium extensively, performing baroque music from Vienna and Venice.

In 2014, The Illyria Consort presented "Treasures of the Monastery" at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, performing violin sonatas kept in manuscript form in the library of the Minorite monastery in Vienna.

In January 2015, the group traveled to Ghent to present a programme entitled "Sounds of Imperial Vienna". In the summer of 2015, The Illyria Consort performed Vivaldi: L'Estro Armonico at the Festival de Sablé. This year they appeared at the Rutland Music Festival, performing violin sonatas by G.S. Carbonelli, and later recorded this repertoire with Delphian Records. The disc will be released in June 2017.

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