Giovanni Giornovich (1747–1804): ‘London’ Concertos

Bojan Čičić violin, The Illyria Consort Giovanni Giornovich was one of the most colourful and popular violin virtuosos of his day. Apparently of Croatian descent, he was seemingly known by a different name in every country he toured (Ivan Jarnović and Giovanni Giornovichi, among some thirty variants), deliberately making the most of his mysterious origins.

More mysterious still is why these concertos – full of wit, charm and character, and redolent of the international musical life of Haydn’s London in the 1790s – should have waited so long to be recorded. Modern-day virtuoso Bojan Čičić and his Illyria Consort, fresh from their triumphant revival of the sonatas of Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli (also on Delphian), are ideal champions to bring this delightful music back to life.