Philip had the pleasure of writing the following:

>Joseph Previte wrote:
>
>>Any comments on the Philips Grumiaux set?
>
>Mmmmmmmmmm.......classy playing.  Grumiaux is too *tasteful* for some
>people but for me he's one of the great violinists of the century.
>Rarely have I heard a more inspired Chaconne...

I'd have to agree, and for the longest time I thought that I would never
hear a better version of this masterpiece.  I was wrong, however.  Last
year, when my mum was in eastern Canada, she had the pleasure of hearing
the Canadian violinst Lara St. John play the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.
Afterwards, my mum purchased Lara St. John's Bach disc.  This of course
was the one that caused the controversy, since Ms. St. John appears
nearly naked on the cover.  Biased as I am, I refused to listen to it for
a while, since I did not want to buy into these marketing ploys.  I thought
that she was just another Vannessa Mae wannabe.  Luckily, I was proven
wrong.  Her Chaconne is absolutely fantastic.  Immaculate playing, superb
recording.  Absolutely breathless.  Cover aside, this is one fantastic
disc.  I just wish she recorded the whole set.  IMHO, this is Bach as it
was meant to be played.

Milan Gowin
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ualberta.ca/~mgowin/