Featured Album May 2026: Jorge Jiménez "Curiosa: Lost & Found Tunes"

Once again our Featured Album comes from an artist performing in our Informal Recital Series at our Snape Maltings shop – later this month, baroque violinist Jorge Jiménez will perform music from his newly-released album Curiosa. Described as a 'cabinet of curiosities', Jiménez takes us on a varied and personal tour of his musical influences and interests in this largely solo programme. Available now on Challenge Classics, read on to find out more about Curiosa...

Curiosa: Lost & Found Tunes
Jorge Jiménez • Tercia Realidad

OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MAY 2026

Click here to order now!

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From the artist's press release:

Curiosa is conceived as a personal “cabinet of curiosities” by violinist Jorge Jiménez, bringing together music that entered his life through years of travel, collaboration, and discovery. The album spans laments, dances, preludes, fugues, and songs from both renowned and anonymous sources, ranging from the Middle Ages to the Baroque and beyond. Each piece is selected for its emotional depth, strangeness, and expressive power, forming a living repertoire shaped in rehearsals, late-night conversations, concerts, and recording sessions. Central to the project is Jiménez’s fascination with unaccompanied music and historical instruments, particularly the baroque violin and vielle, whose raw and earthy sound transports the listener into earlier sound worlds..

Throughout Curiosa, Jiménez weaves together personal heritage, musical memory, and imaginative storytelling. His own arrangements connect Bach, Dowland, Strozzi, Gaspar Sanz, and traditional tunes with vivid images. Joined by Joy Smith on early harps and Daniel Garay on historical percussion, and performing with his ensemble Tercia Realidad, Jiménez blends historical insight with spontaneity and improvisation. The result is an album that feels both intimate and expansive — music passed “between hands, ears, and hearts,” constantly transforming while remaining deeply rooted in shared curiosity and human connection.

Jorge Jiménez: "These pieces entered my life through the extraordinary musicians and ensembles I’ve been fortunate to work with across Europe. They form a living repertoire shaped in rehearsal rooms, late-night conversations, recording sessions, and concerts."

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Why The Early Music Shop loves "Curiosa: Lost & Found Tunes":

Founder and artistic director of Tercia Realidad, Jorge Jiménez is one of Europe’s most versatile violinists who has performed as soloist and concertmaster with many of the leading period-instrument ensembles. He is renowned for his exploration of historically informed performance and his dedication to rediscovering unaccompanied violin music. Jiménez thrives on creating performances that unite collaborative invention, improvisation and historical repertoire, all of which are on display in this, his latest album.

Curiosa is a personal collection from Jiménez that spans laments, dances, preludes, fugues and melodies from medieval times to Bach to the folk tradition. As the violinist remarks, ‘These pieces entered my life through the extraordinary musicians and ensembles I’ve been fortunate to work with across Europe. They form a living repertoire shaped in rehearsal rooms, late-night conversations, recording sessions, and concerts.’

Each piece has been chosen for its emotional depth, sometimes its strangeness, and, above all, its expressive power. Featuring the baroque violin and the raw, earthy sonority of the vielle, the programme takes us on journey though Jiménez’s personal musical heritage His own arrangements connect Bach, Dowland, Strozzi, Gaspar Sanz, among others, and traditional tunes. Among personal favourites are the anonymous Lamento di Tristano & La Rotta, in which he is joined by the buzzing resonance of Joy Smith’s bray harp, and Jiménez’s arrangement of Strozzi’s Che si può fare. Taken as a whole, it’s a hugely enjoyable album, beautifully recorded and presented.

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Curiosa: Lost & Found Tunes is available from The Early Music Shop online or in-store at our Snape Maltings showroom!

Click here to order now!

Click below to watch Jorge Jiménez perform Strozzi's Che sì può fare, recorded at Wrabness Church, close to Jorge's home in North Essex.

 And click below to watch a short album trailer:

See Jorge Jiménez performing a solo recital at The Early Music Shop, Snape Maltings on Wednesday 27 May at 12pm as the latest in our monthly series of informal recitals – free entry, no booking required. Jorge will be playing and introducing music from Curiosa and CDs will be available for sale at this event. Find out more about our recital series by clicking here.