John Smyth <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>much--the music suddenly came to life.  Hoping for a Kirshbaum-esque/HIP
>epiphany regarding the Sonatas and Partitas, I have been combing the
>Gramophone data base for positive reviews of HIP recordings.  Can anyone
>second the magazine's positive review of Monica Huggett's performance on
>Virgin? And what of Rachel Podger's? (Vol.  I, with Vol II projected?)

Hello everybody, I've just stumbled upon this illustrious discussion list
recently and this is as good a reason to raise my voice for the first time
as any.

There is another HIP recording that came out a couple of months ago on
Centaur:

Ingrid Matthew, baroque violin, Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
(Complete)

It's a mid-price two-disc set.  Perhaps because of bad timing -- right
after Rachel Podger's recordings, which got much more publicity -- this
set hasn't received as much attention as it deserves, although it did get
an absolutely glowing review in, astonishingly, the American Record Guide.
(The same infamous issue, in fact, in which the editor-in-chief, or whoever
that Don Vroon person is, so spectacularly showcased his ignorance
concerning the early music performance practice.) Although very positive,
that review was entirely exasperating.  The reviewer started by saying
something along the lines of "I've never heard of this performer, so this
must be her first recording", etc., etc.  Interesting logic, isn't it:  "I
don't know something, therefore it mustn't exist"...

Well, I.  Matthews is a formidable player; she's got quite a following
already in the hard-core early music circles and I'm sure it's just a
matter of time before the "general" music-listening public falls in love
with her.  For those who don't know:  she's the music director of Seattle
Baroque and also plays with a couple of other early music groups.  I've
just heard her in a gorgeous concert with La Luna at the Frick Collection
in NYC (and I promise to spare everybody a bitter diatribe about the NY
Times reviewer that showed up at that concert!).

But, going back to the subject of the sonatas and partitas, I find hers
absolutely spellbinding.

Marina Werbeloff