Violin Sonata No. 3

Edvard Grieg

This Music of the Week would like to highlight a beautiful cultural effort of a group of Solari subscribers from Italy. A Musical Offering is a cultural association supporting and organizing choral and musical projects for underprivileged children and young people. The association started its work in Italy but has also expanded into aiding young musicians in Palestine, Syrian occupied territories, and Lebanon through significant donations. A virtuous circle has been initiated to share cultural education and experience on many levels of geography, music history, and cultural awareness. Children in war-stricken communities across the Middle East are provided with educational tools, which they are otherwise lacking, in their formative years of artistic and personal development.

Donations are now needed to continue this worthy effort. The association has a fundraising effort underway that rewards each donation (minimum of 55 EUR) with an elegant, limited-edition, Italian-made booklet for 2026 featuring sacred art, prayer, and the traditional liturgical calendar—offered in support of a meaningful cause.

For this week, we are featuring young Italian music artist Giovanni Battista Vannicelli offering this recital of the first movement from Edvard Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, accompanied on the pianoforte by Monica Cattarossi.

Vannicelli, 20 years old, is presently completing his Masters at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana under the tutelage of Maestro Sergej Krylov, having completed his Bachelors in Music at the Conservatorio di Novara in the class of Ivan Rabaglia and Mauro Rossi.

His repertoire encompasses concertos by W.A. Mozart (No. 3 in G Major, KV 216, No. 5 in A Major, KV 219), Felix Mendelssohn (Concerto in E minor, Op. 64), P.I. Tchaikovsky (D minor, Op. 35), and more, including virtuoso pieces by N. Paganini, Kreisler, and others.