Capricious, gleefully extravagant and no respecter of rules, Francesco Geminiani was a virtuoso violinist and a talented composer. He was also an art dealer, a collector, a painter, writer and musicologist in the early days of the discipline. In his day, this hurried and agitated man (two characteristics that can be found in the vivacity of his music) had a reputation and influence every bit as powerful as that of Corelli or Handel, which time has unfairly erased.
The magnificent Concerto Köln ensemble wanted to address this lack by lending all its lustre to Geminiani's music, choosing its quintessence ("Quinta essentia") for this splendid album. A great traveller, Geminiani journeyed all over Europe, spending a fairly long time in Paris before establishing himself for good in London, where he played violin concertos with Handel at court. The story is told of the theft of one of his manuscripts by a servant during a stay in Dublin, which provoked his death at the age of 74 a (more than) respectable age for the time.
He left behind many sonatas and concertos grossos in the style of Corelli, which were very much in fashion in the England of the time. His own style would, however, make its mark, and many composers would keep his memory through the use of multiple arrangements, such as his student Charles Avison. The thirty-three pages of this recording give a perfect illustration of the versatility of this essential baroque composer. © François Hudry/Qobuz