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Trio Sonnerie: Monica Huggett (baroque violin), Emilia Benjamin (viola da gamba) & James Johnstone (harpsichord) La Gamme (et autres morceaux de simphonie) heralds the return of Sonnerie to the trio format and marks their debut recording on Linn Records. The recording sees the Grammy-nominated group take on Marin Marais’ bold and innovative ‘opera’, which alternates between trio and duo textures, whilst Marais’ contemporary Antoine Forqueray provides a welcome contrast to the programme. The recording opens with an expertly phrased and highly nuanced performance of Marias’ La Gamme, a harmonically unique composition based around a C Major scale. As this scale ascends and descends the musical line evolves revealing a delightful mixture of dances and forms including: Allemandes, Gigues, Chaconnes, Fugues and Rondeaux. Forqueray’s fiendishly virtuosic piece provides a dramatic contrast to the traditional courtly music of Louis XIV and La Gamme. Pieces de viole, avec la basse continue was a technical revolution: Forqueray was a master of the viola da gamba repertoire and his own prowess on the viol inspired this highly modern piece. Trio Sonnerie divided up the diabolically virtuosic solos between viola da gamba and harpsichord, which proved challenging even for modern players. World-famous Baroque violinist Monica Huggett, the mainstay of the group, and her long-time colleagues Emilia Benjamin and James Johnstone each shine on this recording. The clean, crisp lines of the intimate 17th and 18thcentury repertoire leaves no room for anything other than top-notch playing. Reviews The musicians bring to this repertoire ‘playing of real elegance’ (The Independent) and ‘one could even go as far as to say musical bliss!’ (The Times). BBC Music Magazine July 2013 “Huggett’s playing is pliant and effortless, her distinctive sound very much the ensemble’s hallmark. Gambist Emilia Benjamin makes light work of Marais’s virtuoso passagework…while James Johnson [sic] offers robust, sinewy playing on an opulent-toned copy of a late 18th-century harpsichord…these gracious accounts rarely fail to please. – 4 out of 5 stars Gramophone Magazine April 2013 “Monica Huggett loses no time in asserting the brilliance of the violin, then fashionable in Paris, over the bass viol, playing here in subdued fashion by Emilia Benjamin. MusicWeb International 1st July 2013 “The music on this disc bears witness to the high standard of music-making and performing in the time of Louis XIV. Trio Sonnerie – which derived its name from Marais’s piece played here – feels like a fish in water. The playing is superb, technically assured and with an impressive command of the idiom. |
