The Italian violinist, based in Brazil, Emmanuele Baldini, concertmaster of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), holds a prominent position in both the Brazilian and international classical music scenes. As a solo artist, he has been building a solid discography, expressed in emblematic projects and recordings.
This is the case with the album CAPRICCIO, where Baldini invites the young and talented violinist Leonardo Bock to explore together the rich tradition of music written for two violins. Covering periods from Baroque to Romanticism, the album stands out for the intimate dialogue between the two instruments, which intertwine in sonatas, suites, and capriccios by composers Jean-Marie Leclair, Johan Halvorsen, Carl Nielsen, Georg P. Telemann, Maddalena Laura Sirmen, Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de Saint-George), and Henryk Wieniawski. The exquisite selection also includes pieces that are rarely performed and highlights historical figures such as Maddalena Laura Sirmen, one of the few female composers of her time, and Chevalier de Saint-Georges, an extraordinary figure in the classical music scene and the first black musician to be acclaimed with critical recognition in 18th-century Europe, breaking social barriers as an exceptional violinist, composer, and fencer.
Each chosen theme, from Wieniawski’s virtuosic demands to Leclair’s refined compositions, which reveal intrinsic genius in their tender and combative musical writing, allows listeners not only to contemplate the technical complexity but also to understand the emotional and biographical context that permeates each work. The duo presents a concise, virtuosic, and remarkably sensitive album, revealing a promising and long-lasting horizon for new encounters.