Fabio Biondi - Leclair: Premier Livre de Sonates (1992)

When this album first appeared in 1992, violinist Fabio Biondi and keyboardist Rinaldo Alessandrini attracted little attention in comparision with the better-known historical-instrument specialists of northwestern Europe. Biondi's ensemble Europa Galante was still in its early years, and Alessandrini's hyper-dramatic Vivaldi readings were still years in the future. But the originality was there for those with ears to hear in these recordings of violin-and-continuo sonatas from Jean-Marie Leclair's first book, published in 1723. They don't really resemble Biondi's later recordings of Vivaldi's Four Seasons concertos and the like, but they were and have remained fresh readings of French repertory in which many performances have the whiff of rote. Biondi, playing not his trademark 1766 Gagliano instrument but a modern Baroque violin by Parmesan maker Desiderio Quercetani, forges a quintessentially French sound, with the bow strokes trailing off into affecting little caresses. Try one of the moderate-tempo dances, such as the gratioso-marked Gavotta of the Sonata No. 11 (track 6), for the full effect. These pieces, though designated sonatas by the composer, are uncommonly tight fusions of Italian sonatas and French dance suites, and Biondi throws himself into expressing this duality as an audience of the 18th century would have heard it. With excellent sound from the Metz Arsenal, an early success for recording early music digitally, this remains a prime pick for Leclair's winsome violin sonatas.