The title Venice to Versailles evokes the idea of a journey or the movement from one place (or state) to another.

The works recorded here certainly present an intriguing musical journey through the diversity of Italian and French instrumental chamber music of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries: sets of variations on vocal works and ground basses, dances, sonatas and suites.

On another level, the affections or passions – universal states of the soul, such as rage, melancholy, joy or mystic exaltation – of the attentive listener will be moved.

Move Records (2002)

Venice and Versailles were two of the most important centres for the arts in Europe during the Baroque period. They represent the two dominant and contrasting styles of music:

• Venice, the robust, joyous exuberance and barocco (‘wild’ or ‘grotesque’) character of the Italian style, and
• Versailles, the refinement, delicacy, elegance and douceur (‘sweetness’) of the French.