Following the huge success of his recording of Bach's Partitas and Sonatas, Bojan's "seductive" disc of G.F. Handel's Complete Violin Sonatas (BBC Record Review), with harpsichordist Steven Devine, reached No. 2 in the Official Charts Specialist Classical Chart, and was selected as The Times's Classical Album of the Week. It was also featured in Apple Music's Top 10 Classical Albums and "The Works".
Reviews
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The Times
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ BBC Music Magazine
In July 2023, Bojan released Bach: Partitas & Sonatas, dedicated to his late violin professor.
-5 star reviews in the Times
-No.1 in the Official Charts Company
- Top 10 classical album in the Apple charts
Photos from the recording session are below.
"Bojan Čičić's interpretations are both visceral and thoughtful, underpinned by a magisterial virtuosity ... Čičić balances intimacy and the need for projection, always a challenge when recording. This release must surely become a reference recording, particularly for the next generation to whom Čičić is very deeply committed"
- BBC Music Magazine, Choice *****
"[Crichton Collegiate Church] makes a considerable contribution to the atmosphere of this disc ... In the great D minor Partita I loved the bounce of Čičić's Corrente and especially his dazzling Giga ... [his] arpeggiated passages are simply stunning; I'm not sure I breathed between bars 90 and 120 ... This is a wonderful addition to a strong field of baroque performances, technically assured and deeply considered. It's a gentle, introspective album"
- Gramophone
"Croatian-born baroque violin specialist Bojan Čičić comes blazing in with Bach's magisterial sextet: three sonatas plus three partitas, magnificently played on an instrument almost 20 years older than the music itself ... I can't recall another recent recording where the lingering resonance of the music's final notes has been so magical. The end result is an album that splendidly showcases Bach's special pleasure: music that engages both heart and head, and leaves us humbled, disarmed, and uplifted "
- The Times *****
Bojan chatted to Camille de Rijck at RTBF yesterday, discussing the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Ancient Music. The celebrations include the completion of their recording project of Mozart’s keyboard concertos with pianist Robert Levine.
“An immaculately played recital of music by a Baroque violin innovator” - Apple Music
“Čičić has mastered the illusion of musician as a conduit” - Gramophone
Editor’s Choice Presto Classical, October 2022
“Bojan Čičić takes everything that is thrown at him comfortably in his stride, seasoning his Tononi’s slender sound with tastefully varied vibrato … Čičić adds a further turn of his own by embellishing the last chord with a final recollection of the motif. His imaginative embellishments are a joy throughout this beautifully produced set, as is the kaleidoscopic realisation of the continuo by the Illyria Consort.” - The Strad, January 2023
This autumn Bojan will direct an all Bach programme on tour around the Netherlands with the Netherlands Bach Society. The Concerto No.1 will be recorded for their vital All of Bach project.
Bojan Čičić and the Illyria Consort have globally released their latest album on Delphian, La Notte.
The recording revels in the great variety of musical styles and traditions that grew up around Christmas and its related feasts in Catholic Europe in the seventeenth century – a time when the introduction of ‘rustic’ effects into instrumental music changed the sound of Christmas forever.
“Quirky composers (Vivaldi, Biber, Schmelzer) run riot in La Notte, a delightful album from Bojan Cicic’s spirited Illyria Consort”
- The Times
Last December Steven and I had the honour of recording two of JS Bach sonatas for obbligato harpsichord and violin. This is the first one we recorded.
Illyria Consort releases a long-awaited recording, the first ever complete recording of Johann Jakob Walther: Scherzi da violino solo from 1676, a generation before Bach wrote Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin. The aim of this project was to bring Walther’s music out from relative obscurity into essential listening for anyone seeking a fuller understanding of Bach’s polyphonic writing for the violin.
This recording has been the first project to be postponed for the ensemble at the beginning of the lockdown in March 2020. After three more rescheduling needed due to lockdown restrictions, Illyria Consort finally recorded Pyrotechnia in July 2020. It is fantastic to see the positive reviews coming after its release, showing us that it was all worth it.
After their debut recording of Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli: Sonate da camera, which won Presto Recordings of the Year in 2017, Illyria Consort wins the same award for the year 2021 for their collaboration with Marian Consort.
The final instalment in our Carbonelli project is here! This marks the end of a years-long journey of discovery, exploring the gorgeous repertoire of a little-known composer who flourished in Handel’s London. You can read more about Carbonelli and this project, and pre-order the disc, at Presto Classical.
Available everywhere music is sold or streamed.
We have just finished recording the second of a two-disc set of Carbonelli’s violin sonatas. Vol. 1, which included sonatas 1-6, was released in 2017, and this disc will be released at the end of 2019. See the post below for details of our latest recording of Giornovich’s violin concertos, which will be released in just a month on 1 March 2019.
The two discs below will be released on 1 March 2019 and 22 of February respectively. Look for them in all good record stores and online! Details can be found below.
The Illyria Consort, with soloist and director Bojan Cicic, presents a world premiere recording of three violin concertos by Giovanni Giornovich
Bojan directs the Academy of Ancient Music in a recording of baroque recorder concertos
Following the tremendous success of the Illyria Consort's first disc (Carbonelli Violin Sonatas 1-6), we are delighted to announce that Bojan and the Illyria Consort have now recorded their second disc together: the world premiere recording of Giovanni Giornovich's three London Violin Concertos.
This new recording will be available on the 1st of March, 2019. In the meantime, here are some photos from the sessions.
Click here to see a video about this announcement.
The Illyria Consort's debut recording, Carbonelli sonate da camera Vol. 1-6, has been announced as one of the ten winners of Presto Classical's "Recordings of the Year". See the full article here.
Back in May, Bojan wrote an article about the value of choosing a career in early music. It's available to read online: click here to see the full article.
23 June 2017 will be the release date of our first CD with Delphian Records. You can hear us performing Carbonelli live on 20 July at Music at Paxton Festival, Paxton House, and on 24 September at Roman River Music Festival, Colchester.
Sonata No. 5 just visible on the music stand.
The last weekend in June took the Illyria Consort to a church in East Woodhay to record our first disc, a collection of violin sonatas by the unjustly neglected 18th-century composer Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli. He was a wine merchant in London at one time, as well as the leader of the orchestra at London's Theatre Drury Lane.
The Illyria Consort is comprised of Susanne Heinrich (viola da gamba), David Miller (theorbo, archlute, and baroque guitar), Steven Devine (harpsichord and organ), and Bojan Cicic (violin).
The disc is expected to be released in early summer of 2017. We are grateful to everyone who helped make this project possible, particularly those who gave so generously during our JustGiving fundraiser a few months ago. We are still looking for opportunities to raise the last £2,500 through private concerts; please get in touch if you, or anyone you know, would like to host a private recital and talk by Bojan in their homes or a historic venue.
