Leclair / Sinkovsky / Il Pomo D'Oro - Virtuosissimo - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

With a quartet of violin concertos by Jean-Marie Leclair, Leila Schayegh continues her exploration of the instrument's repertory, combining musical insight, virtuosic brilliance and historical understanding. Leclair, who grew up in Lyon and studied in Turin before moving to Paris (he held a short-lived official post at Louis XV's court in the 1730s) produced solo sonatas (and duos) as well as his acclaimed concertos. In her booklet notes, Leila Schayegh, who currently teaches Baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, comments on how Leclair - an outstanding violinist himself - was in thrall to the Italian instrumental style but was concerned that his music should not be played too fast; he was praised for his netteté, a combination of impeccable technique and musical perfection. This first volume in Schayegh's projected series of recordings of the Leclair violin concertos embraces the Nos 2 and 6 works from the two six-concerto series of Op 7 and 10. The G minor concerto, Op 10 No 6, is frequently cited as being the highpoint of Leclair's output. For this dazzling new exhibition of the Swiss violinist's art, Schayegh - who plays a late-seventeenth-century Andrea Guarneri instrument - directs Basel's La Cetra Barockorchester, which features Eva Saladin as it's Konzertmeisterin and Sonoko Asabuki as a further principal violinist.

Jean-Marie Leclair epitomized the idea of an eighteenth-century virtuoso-composer, one whose compositional output largely reflects his activity as a performer. Whilst the French school possessed precursors such as Jean-Féry Rebel, it is very much to Leclair that it owes it's genuine development. The virtuoso violinist became a highly sought-after teacher, and a full generation of musicians were recipients of his teaching. Leclair published twelve concertos for violin in two sets, Op. 7 and Op. 10. The Op. 7 collection, of which four concertos have been included in this recording, is without doubt partially made up of works which Leclair performed at the Concert Spirituel between 1728 and 1736. Today, we are aware of the sytle employed by Leclair in his violin playing through his own writings and concert reviews from the time. His uncompromising ideal of performance is of a truly Appolonian nature precision and integrity in execution, economy with the use of effects, accurate intonation and nobility of expression - all features brought to this new recording by Fabio Biondi and his already legendary ensemble, Europa Galante. The scholar Louis Castelain of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles provides the booklet notes.

Kalliwoda / Leclair / Sechter - Deux [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/01/2012