Conceived with a thrilling view to history, this album tells the musical story of the invention of the violin in Cremorna and its development in Venice, where it came into use at the start of the baroque era, around 1600. Bit by bit, the "viola da braccio" was modified and perfected by luthiers like the Amatis, and later their heirs, the Guarneris and Stradivaris. These new instruments were coming out of the workshops of Cremona and Brescia in northern Italy. Before Corelli, whose works would inundate all of Europe, Giovanni Gabrieli, Biagio Marini, Salomone Rossi, Giovanni Legrenzi and Francesco Cavalli composed the first works for violin. Formed in 2001 in Belgium by the violinist Stéphanie de Failly, the Clematis ensemble (named for a nice-smelling flower that symbolises idealism and creativity) mainly concentrates on uncovering little-known repertoires from the 17th Century: Italian, German and French. The ensemble concentrates in particular on the Italian development of the violin repertoire, as illustrated by recordings dedicated to Carlo Farina on the one hand and Giovanni Battista and Tomaso Antonio Vitali on the other. Stéphanie de Failly also recorded the famous Ciaconna by Vitali, following the original manuscript, rendering this score in all its baroque originality. © François Hudry/Qobuz