The instrumental music of the 17th century has always taken second place to that of the High Baroque, with its clear, graspable structures, in the minds of general listeners. But this release by British historical-instrument specialist Rachel Podger and Polish keyboardist Marcin Swiatkiewicz, with theorbist Daniele Caminiti, may change that situation. Podger does well to focus on a single genre, the sonata; the music here is for the most part not well known (although, as with other collections from the period, the inclusion ...
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The instrumental music of the 17th century has always taken second place to that of the High Baroque, with its clear, graspable structures, in the minds of general listeners. But this release by British historical-instrument specialist Rachel Podger and Polish keyboardist Marcin Swiatkiewicz, with theorbist Daniele Caminiti, may change that situation. Podger does well to focus on a single genre, the sonata; the music here is for the most part not well known (although, as with other collections from the period, the inclusion of Girolamo Frescobaldi goes to show how far he was above his contemporaries and successors). From the point of view of the modern listener these sonatas are partly interesting for what they give birth to, but for listeners in their own time they would have been new, daring, possessed of a free spirit of fantasy. This is what Podger inhabits: she does not just play the notes, but captures the surprise in this music. Along the way is a work from the first set of sonatas composed by a...
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