The Avison Ensemble - Corelli: Opus 2 & 4: Chamber Sonatas - Early Music Review

Corelli's trios have long had a place in my musical world - they were the staple diet of my keyboard harmony classes at St Andrews, with weekly torture sessions of figured bass realizations . They were also, of course, key in my understanding of Baroque harmony and counterpoint before moving on to the heady heights of daring to compose in the style of Bach! I am quite sure that none of the pieces on this wonderful recording ever sounded as marvellous when I was the performer!

Each of the sonatas have a slightly different colouring, depending on the continuo instrument(s) used, and as much on the brilliance or otherwise of the key. The two violinists balance beautifully (I remember writing much the same many years ago, when the Purcell Quartet recordings on Chandos came out), and their bass line colleagues are less accompanists as fellows in the dialogue (exactly as it ought to be).

The tendency in playing such simple-looking music must be to decorate it, but recording such improvisations is always a risk; will they tire after repeated hearings? While I think the Avison's have - judiciously - struck a perfect balance, some things did not quite ring true; why play most of a movement on stringed instruments, only for the harpsichordist to decorate the final cadence? That said, this recording will lurk on my desk for weeks and months to come - there are many worse things in life than a daily dose of Corelli, especially when it is so well played!