Italico Splendore - Giovanni Battista Vitali: Sonatas for two violins and continuo, Op. 2, 1682

Modena has an abundant collection of musical documents in the Biblioteca Estense: the library is a real mine, largely unexplored so far. This consideration gave rise to the idea of making this beautiful, extraordinarily modern music available to those pursuing culture and art. So our goal is to promote a rediscovery of the enormous heritage preserved in the Biblioteca Estense, by carrying out a meticulous study of the sources of the works of the composers who were active at the Este Court in Modena, transcribing them into modern notation and critical editions, and producing monographic recordings of them.The first step consisted in the study and recording of the instrumental works of Giovanni BattistaVitali. In this second of 6 recordings dedicated to his music preserved at the Estense Library of Modena, the baroque group Italico Splendore is introducing us to the sonatas for two violins and continuo op. 2 that, due to their destination (for both chamber and church), are characterized by a brilliant and lively score, anticipating the concerting style that would have emerged a generation later, thanks to Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi.