Un Italien à Paris Magdalena Sypniewski, Hanna Salzenstein, Cécile Chartrain

• Giovanni Battista Somis (1686 - 1763): Sonata da camera, Op. 2 No. 1:
• 1 Somis: Sonata da camera, Op. 2 No. 1: I. Adagio 01:47
• 2 Somis: Sonata da camera, Op. 2 No. 1: II. Allegro 02:34
• 3 Somis: Sonata da camera, Op. 2 No. 1: III. Vivace 02:18
• Jean-Pierre Guignon (1702 - 1774): Sonata a violino solo é basso, Op. 1 No. 9:
• 4 Guignon: Sonata a violino solo é basso, Op. 1 No. 9: I. Andante 04:32
• 5 Guignon: Sonata a violino solo é basso, Op. 1 No. 9: II. Allegro 02:35
• 6 Guignon: Sonata a violino solo é basso, Op. 1 No. 9: III. Allegro poco 04:19
• 7 Guignon: Sonata a violino solo é basso, Op. 1 No. 9: IV. Allegro gracioso 02:41
• Jean-Marie Leclair "l'Aîné" (1697 - 1764): Sonate à violon seul et basse continue, Op. 5 No. 12:
• 8 Leclair "l'Aîné": Sonate à violon seul et basse continue, Op. 5 No. 12: I. Adagio 03:36
• 9 Leclair "l'Aîné": Sonate à violon seul et basse continue, Op. 5 No. 12: II. Allegro ma non troppo 03:25
• 10 Leclair "l'Aîné": Sonate à violon seul et basse continue, Op. 5 No. 12: III. Largo 03:23
• 11 Leclair "l'Aîné": Sonate à violon seul et basse continue, Op. 5 No. 12: IV. Ciaccona 05:40
• Total Runtime 36:50

Info for Un Italien à Paris

Spring 1731: the violinist Giovanni Battista Somis set off on a long journey from his native Turin to Paris, where he performed with the famous Concert spirituel at the Palais des Tuileries to great acclaim. The Mercure de France reported on the event in glowing terms: ‘The Sieur Sommis, the famous violinist of the King of Sardinia, performed various sonatas and concertos there with the utmost perfection, and was greatly applauded by the numerous audiences that the precision and brilliant execution of this great master attracted.’ Who made up these enthusiastic ‘numerous audiences’? The Mercure does not mention them. But this historical gap at least gives us the opportunity to presume the presence of some of his former pupils, now established in Paris...

In fact, the Italian master had trained the majority of the ‘sparkling pleiad’ – to use La Laurencie’s expression – of violinists of the time: Guignon, Guillemain and, of course, Leclair the Elder. Could we therefore consider the Piedmontese artist to be the father of the French school of virtuoso violin playing? Be that as it may, he passed on to his French students a brilliant instrumental technique, directly imported from Rome, where Somis himself had inherited it from Corelli: double stopping, flamboyant ornaments, staccato, and other colorful techniques would henceforth spread through the works of French violinists, thus responding to the ideal of ‘goûts-réunis’ (unified tastes), which was gaining momentum at the beginning of this century and was characterised by a desire to synthesise French and Italian styles.

Magdalena Sypniewski, violin (tracks 1-11)
Hanna Salzenstein, cello (tracks 8-11)
Cécile Chartrain, harpsichord

Magdalena Sypniewski
A young violinist originally from Toulouse, Magdalena Sypniewski has a rich and comprehensive musical activity, rewarded by a nomination as Classical Talent 2022 by Adami.

Since her 1st international prize at the Bellan Foundation Competition (2015), she has also won several Special Prizes from the Ravel Academy and distinguished herself at the Ginette Neveu Competition by receiving the Contemporary Interpretation Prize.

More recently, she won a 2nd prize at the Cullera International Competition (Spain, 2020), a 2nd prize and prize for best Mozart at the Vittorio Veneto International Competition (Italy, 2023) and was a finalist at the Wajnberg International Competition (Poland, 2021).

After starting the violin at the Toulouse Conservatory, she studied in Paris with Suzanne Gessner and Roland Daugareil, then in Berlin with Stephan Picard during an Erasmus exchange. She has been selected to participate in international academies such as Villecroze, the Kronberg Academy masterclasses, the Jaroussky Academy, or the Seiji Ozawa Academy, which allow her to train with great musical personalities: Mihaela Martin, Pavel Vernikov, Nemanja Radulovic… During her last year at the Conservatoire, she also took part in the Nouvelle Académie de l’Orchestre de Paris, which allowed her to play for six months within this group.

Born into a family of musicians, Magdalena forms the Sypniewski Trio with her sisters Caroline and Anna, currently in residence at the Singer-Polignac Foundation. Students of Günter Pichler at the Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid, they explore the repertoire for string trio and are invited to many festivals: Août musical de Deauville, Ohrid Summer Festival (Macedonia), Orangerie de Sceaux… They have also been heard in a quartet alongside Alexandre Kantorow, Clément Lefebvre and Adam Laloum.

Her musical sensitivity particularly draws her towards the repertoire of early music, which she tackles by integrating a second Master at the CNSM. She regularly performs in historically informed ensembles (Pygmalion, les Arts Florissants, le Consort, Jupiter…).

In 2025, her first album “Un Italien à Paris” will be released with the Initiale label, around the personality of Giovanni Battista Somis, an Italian composer from the early 18th century.

Generously supported by the Safran Foundation for Music and the Meyer Foundation, she plays a violin by Charles Coquet made for her in 2020, as well as an 18th century “old Paris” violin.

Booklet for Un Italien à Paris