Arcangelo Corelli: Opus 2 & 4: Chamber Sonatas – The Avison Ensemble

The Avison Ensemble:

Pavlo Beznosiuk (violin), Caroline Balding (violin), Richard Tunnicliffe (cello), Paula Chateauneuf (archlute), Roger Hamilton (harpsichord)

Even though Arcangelo Corelli’s Violin Sonatas op. 5 and the Concerti grossi op. 6 are better known today, these works lag behind the four collections of Trio Sonatas opp. 1 to 4 in terms of musical weight, which alone form the core of Corelli’s œuvre in terms of quantity (four collections of twelve sonatas each). Even the careful selection and arrangement of the keys indicate that the composer did not regard them as mere collections, but as units. The meticulous reworking before publication resulted in a perfection that immediately gave the work collections a model character that would remain valid long after Corelli’s death. The same applies to the congenial recording of the trio sonatas by the British Avison Ensemble at LINN RECORDS, which presents the Sonata da chiesa and Sonata da camera.