Baroque Violin Works. Trio Sonnerie ( ^a Monica Huggett (vn) ^ac Sarah Cunningham (va da gamba) ^b Alison Crum (va da gamba) ^abc Mitzi Meyerson (hpd)).

ASV Gaudeamus digital (Mid  price) (LP) GAU107 (Cassette) ZCGAU107; (CD) CDGAU107.

Bach Violin Sonata—G, BWV1021 ^a. Violin Sonata—E minor, BWV1023 ^a. G. Bohm Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in F ^b. Schmelzer Duodena selectatum—Trio Sonata No. 9 in A minor ^a (1659). J. Schenk Scherzi Musicali—Suite in A ^b. P. H. Erlebach Six [Sonata] Sonatas (1694)—E minor ^a.

Lyricism and relaxation are not lacking in Monica Huggett's playing in the Bach sonatas, as NA justly found them to be in Ingrid Seifert's with London Baroque (HMV). Concomitantly, since it is directly related to musical approach, Seifert's tone, though widely varied in colour and sonority, is often edgy and harsh, and her bow sometimes bites with uncomfortable aggression. Huggett's sound is warm, every note has a real core, and she never sets your teeth on edge. The lozenging of notes has certainly been taken to over-zealous excess by some baroque performers and there is now some reaction to it; however, before the baby follows the bath water down the plughole, objectors might profitably note its contribution to the supple and expressive nuancing of Huggett's lines—her violin is a veritable 'bowed vox humana'. Equally felicitous are her embellishments, particularly those in the Adagio ma non tanto of BWV1023. She is closely matched by her companions in the very beautiful performances of these 'with-continuo' sonatas.

The Schmieder bedfellows, BWV1022 and 1024, of uncertain provenance, are included in London Baroque's recording but Trio Sonnerie offer instead four otherwise unrecorded works that give everyone a place in the spotlight: Cunningham allows her gamba to speak naturally, bow lifted from strings, in Schenk's attractive six-movement Suite, whilst Meyerson brings alert style and tasteful flexibility to the five-movement one of Bohm. the other two works are trio sonatas in which the violin and gamba converse, on equal terms. These are superb performances of (some of it totally) neglected music that deserves a place on anyone's baroque shelf, a recommendation that is reinforced by the excellence of the recording per se.

JD