Cabinet of Wonders - May 2021

The aim of the Cabinet of Wonders project is to bring to life the lesser known violin sonatas from the legendary Dresden Hofkapelle's music collection - known as Schrank II - through a series of CD recordings and concerts.

A significant portion of the repertoire found in Schrank II is well-known today as part of the mainstream baroque canon with music by the likes of Telemann and Vivaldi. These works have been extensively played and recorded. Sadly, a good deal of the collection has been overlooked and this is what we have set out to change. The collection has an incredible variety of violin repertoire that we feel is worth exploring. Our aim is to find the hidden gems, many of which have never been published or recorded before. We are hoping that our series of recordings will bring these pieces the exposure and recognition they deserve.

In 2020 we released Volume 1 of the Cabinet of Wonders with First Hand Records. The album includes a piece by Vilsmayr (his only surviving accompanied work for violin), two sonatas by Visconti and all three existing Schreyvogel sonatas. 

With our Volume 2 we carry on unearthing more of this incredibly rich repertoire. In May 2021 we have recorded three sonatas by the Florentine Martino Bitti, who worked under the Medicis, one sonata by Carlo Fiorelli, a leader of the Dresden Hofkapelle orchestra, and two wonderfully inventive and virtuosic anonymous works, possibly by Laurenti and Montanari.

The CD production is currently in its last phase and it is due to be released in January 2022. 

We are very grateful for the Angel Early Music to have so generously supported this recording.