Il Continuo Virtuoso is the fruit of many years of fascination with the possibilities of the cello as an instrument realizing basso continuo. Tomasz Pokrzywinski shows on this album the unknown face of the cello, referring to the forgotten historical practice of virtuoso, improvised accompaniments, for which many cellists from the turn of the 18th century were famous. The seemingly simple bass line is transformed here into a shimmering, colourful texture, being an equal partner for the richly ornamented violin part. The dialogue between the two instruments thus becomes more dynamic, expressive and engaging, fully revealing the richness and diversity of the presented pieces.
A violino e violone o cimbalo, which means 'for violin and cello or harpsichord'. In this instrumental instruction, typical of the Italian sonata of Corelli's time, it is the 'or' conjunction that is the most important, since it gives us the opportunity to choose the instrument accompanying the violin and clearly suggests that some sonatas should be performed in a duo. Martyna Pastuszka and Tomasz Pokrzywinski - two recognized musicians representing the historically informed performance movement - took advantage of this opportunity.
The musical paths of the artists have crossed many times. Already as young musicians, they played dozens of joint concerts and recorded several albums with the Arte dei Suonatori orchestra. After many years of gaining experience in renowned European early music ensembles, they met again - this time in Martyna Pastuszka's {oh!} Orkiestra. The cooperation of both musicians turned out to be extremely successful and naturally moved to the field of chamber music, resulting in, among other things, the creation of this album.
