Corelli's violin works were the locus classicus of the instrument's tradition at the height of the Baroque era, and several of the specialists in historical violin performance have taken their turns at realizing them in something like their original forms. This recording of the six violin sonatas of the composer's Op. 5 is by two veterans of Holland's rich early music scene, violinist
Lucy van Dael and keyboardist
Bob van Asperen. It has several distinguishing characteristics. The written score of these works provides the performers with only partial guidance. It consists of a skeletal violin melody, plus a figured bass. Surviving instructional materials from Corelli's time make clear that the violinist must improvise a good deal of ornamentation, and here
van Dael generally succeeds; her slow movements have the kind of compelling, explosive quality that one imagines Corelli desired, even if her violin has a bit of a reedy sound. The end of the Vivace movement of the Sonata No. 5, track 22, provides a good example of her individualistic, dramatic ornamentation style. The published score specifies the confusing combination of "violino e violine o cembalo" -- violin and cello or harpsichord, which some have interpreted as permitting the usual continuo combination of cello or gamba and keyboard, in addition to the violin. Van Dael and
van Asperen take Corelli at his word, however, using just violin and keyboard -- organ in the first three sonatas, and harpsichord in the rest. This interpretation is persuasive. It places the focus squarely on the violin, which is where it belongs in highly soloistic music that was meant to test the player's on-the-spot talents. The use of a small organ may or may not be justifiable, although it certainly had plenty of precedent in the practice of the period; whatever the case, it works well musically with these two players. They seem to rise and fall together in intensity in the first three sonatas, producing the atmosphere of mystery that was part and parcel of the violin's image for a long time. On the harpsichord
van Asperen is less intense. Partly the problem is that he's hard to hear; Naxos' vaunted high-definition sound technology results in an echoic acoustic that loses details and picks up too much breathing noise. Nevertheless, those fascinated by the whole thorny question of Baroque violin performance will want to check this out.