Following the chart-topping success of his Bach Sonatas and Partitas and equal acclaim for his recording of Walther’s Scherzi da violino, Bojan Čičić now turns to Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s collection of sonatas from 1681 – among the most ambitious and inventive violin works of the seventeenth century.

Using unorthodox tuning and bold harmonic invention, Biber expands the instrument’s capabilities, and his improvisatory style, layered textures and intricate counterpoint demand of the player not only virtuosic technical brilliance but an acute sensitivity to affect and sonority.

With his Illyria Consort, Čičić brings a clarity and depth to this music, uncovering the sonatas’ rich interplay between intellect, devotion and instrumental theatre. Restless in imagination and profound in expression, the sonatas – here recorded complete – are illuminated by Čičić’s unmistakable artistry.

Čičić offers more intimacy of performance, up close and personal. The continuo team is equally impressive, with moments of delightful dialogue between plucked textures…From the opening of Sonata No 1 Čičić invites us under the bonnet of the music, and when virtuosic fireworks arrive they are thrillingly accurate…Čičić balances the cornucopia of invention and contrast with a tumble of inevitability that creates a gripping sense of flow. His playing can be feisty, graceful and often remarkably rapid but it is never showy. - Gramophone Magazine