Andrys Basten wrote about the Holloway version of the Mystery Sonatas:

>Chris, sorry to confuse everyone.  Your set, quantity-wise, is a better
>buy than the one I was talking about since it's two cds but has only the
>Mystery/Rosary sonatas though as pointed out they have more than the usual
>involved.  Besides Davitt Moroney, Stephen Stubbs is on baroque lute and
>chitarrone, Erin Headley's on gamba and lirone, and Andrew Lawrence-King
>is on double harp, regal.

I'm hoping to find a copy of this recording someday, as the continuo
group (Tragicomedia) has always been a favorite.  They were quite adept
at realizing colorful accompaniments of both vocal and instrumental music
from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.  It's too bad that the group broke
up, though Lawrence-King has done some neat things with his Harp Consort.

>I saw Manze in a trio of violins here, with the mentioned John Holloway
>and with Stanley Ritchie.  Fantastic concert.  Their CD together is still
>available too.  In the concert he was the most impressive, being able to
>play the fast improvisational stuff with more ease, accuracy, and flair
>than the other too.

Although I've read that Manze has been criticized for an "aggressive"
playing style, I don't see it myself.  Perhaps because he has, with some
other instrumentalists, changed the paradigm by which music of the era is
approached.  To me, he's one of those violinists that can blow away in one
performance the stereotype of Baroque music as aural wallpaper.  Not only
in his playing style, but the ability to improvise upon what's written
down, as many of the composers from then would have expected.  Of course,
as long as his repertory stays in the 17th/18th century, he's not likely to
get the same recognition as so many a "mainstream" violinist, the ones who
consistently rehash the usual Mozart/Beethoven/Brahms/Mendelssohn/Bruch/
Tchaikovsky etc.  schtick.

Bill H.