A fancy hattar

Johan Helmich Roman, Assaggi a violino solo

Anaëlle Blanc-Verdin, violin

Release 17th October 2025 – CD – reference : SE 13 – run time : 73’27
Label : Seulétoile – Distributing Company : Socadisc (France) & iMusician (digitale) – ISBN : 3770020083204 – CD & booklet printed and made in France

Price : 15€

Joyful and serious fantasies, the Assaggi bear the mark of the improvised gestures of a composer-violinist. Lively, intimate, virtuosic and powerful, they display an absolute freedom that captivates both performer and listener.

Assaggiare means “to taste” in Italian, and Roman invites us to discover.

With assaggio, Roman chose a word that was ‘available’, a word that was not already linked to known musical forms. This word alerts us, telling us: be careful, what you are about to read, play or hear is unlike anything you have heard before. Even very flexible words such as toccata or fantasia are not suitable, as they create a horizon of expectation. Assaggio is an unknown word, the name of inventive otherness. It tells us, ‘it’s up to you to taste it, if you want to!’.
Bernard Sève

Photographs by Quentin Blanc