When the Ensemble Vintage Koln set out to produce a set of the complete
Handel violin sonatas on the Naxos label, they went a step beyond what most might have done. Authorship issues abound with much of
Handel's instrumental chamber works, the violin sonatas in particular. Recent discoveries have shed an informative light on the situation, and now there is a better understanding of which sonatas were not originally for the violin, and which were not even from
Handel's pen at all. Rather than tossing aside some of these works which for generations were believed to be original
Handel violin sonatas, violinist
Ariadne Daskalakis and her collaborators from the
Ensemble Vintage Köln include them all on this album. Armed with an informative set of liner notes, listeners are able to decide for themselves what place these sonatas have in
Handel's canon. Performing on period instruments (including alternating usage of Baroque cello and viola da gamba for the continuo part),
Daskalakis take their academic understanding of the scores and translate it into informed performances that glisten with vibrant, dynamic, effervescent playing. Balance puts the violin appropriately at the forefront without covering the engaging and well-played continuo part. Naxos' sound is clean and responsive.