Emilio Percan - Affettuoso: Piani, Geminiani, Handel: Violin Sonatas (2012) CD-Rip

Piani was well enough regarded in his own time to get hired in Paris and then across the continent in Vienna, where he spent the last four decades of his life. He has been forgotten probably because the group of Sonatas, Op. 1, that are excerpted here are his sole surviving works. With the rise in popularity of Francesco Maria Veracini and the other Italians who took their music to France and England in the early 18th century, Piani is worth getting to know. With the exception of the opening Violin Sonata in B minor, Op. 1/8, heard here, Piani's sonatas are in five movements, a departure from the usual sonata da camera pattern. They mix French dances and Italianate movements in various combinations, and overall the balance between the two not-yet-reunited tastes is very cleverly done. The level of virtuosity is not quite as high as in Veracini's works, but the finales are brilliant, with plenty of fire for the harpsichordist as well as the violinist in these readings (it's not clear how many of the ornaments are improvised and how many written out). The sonatas by Handel and Geminiani make an ideal counterpoint for Piani's style, but "affettuoso" (affectingly) is not quite the first word that would come to mind when hearing Percan's rather astringent playing, and he's not helped by the chilly acoustic from the St. Nikolaus Kapelle in Velbert, Germany, chosen by Onyx's engineers. Nevertheless, Baroque buffs will welcome the addition of this almost unknown music to the marketplace.