Bojan Čičić (violin), Steven Devine (harpsichord)

Handel: Sonata in D major for violin and continuo, HWV371, Op. 1 No. 13
Handel: Allegro in G major for violin and continuo, HWV407
Handel: Sonata in G major for violin and continuo, HWV358
Handel: Sonata in D Minor for violin and continuo, HWV359a, Op. 1 No. 1
Handel: Sonata in G minor for violin or oboe and continuo, HWV364a, Op. 1 No. 6
Handel: Violin Movement in A Minor HWV 408
Handel: Sonata in A major for violin and continuo, HWV372, Op. 1 No. 14
Handel: Violin Sonata in E major, Op. 1, No. 15, HWV 373
Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e della Verita: Sonata
Handel: Andante for violin & continuo in A minor, HWV 412
Handel: Fantasia in A Major
Handel: Sonata in A Major for violin and continuo, HWV361, Op. 1 No. 3

Though better known as a virtuoso keyboard player, as a young man Handel also trained as a violinist. His works for violin and harpsichord, says essayist Donald Burrows, ‘do not attract attention by flashy virtuosity: rather, they are flowing and agreeable chamber music, in which the violinist is in musical conversation with the keyboard player’.

Who better to guide us in this conversation than two early music stars – Bojan Čičić, fresh from acclaimed solo recordings of Bach and Johann Jakob Walther; and Steven Devine, who has known the magnificent 1756 Kirckman harpsichord since boyhood and for whom, he says, it is a privilege and delight to record these Handel Sonatas on it.

"Armed with his 1703 baroque violin, Cicic’s eloquent, gracefully ornamented delivery of Handel’s melodic flights sits perfectly alongside the sprightly sounds of Devine’s 1756 harpsichord." - The Times, 21st February 2024