Gramophone Magazine
June 2024
Editor's Choice

Presto Recording of the Week
24th May 2024

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque

Handel: Sonata in D major for violin and continuo, HWV371, Op. 1 No. 13
Lawes, W: Fantasia Suite No. 8 in D major
Blow: Ground in G Minor
Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C minor-major
Purcell: Sonata in G Minor, Z. 780: I. Adagio - Allegro - Largo - Vivace
Schop, J: Lachrimae
Jenkins, J: Fantasia-Suite in A Minor, VdGS group IV, No. 1
Baltzar: The Division Violin: Prelude
Barsanti: A Collection of Old Scots Tunes: Lochaber
Purcell: A New Irish Tune, Z. 646: "Lilliburlero"
Oswald, James: A Curious Collection of Scots Tunes: Alloway House
Geminiani, F: Two Airs for a Violin or German Flute, Violin, Cello & Harpsichord: Auld Bob Morrice. Affetuoso - Allegro
Jones, Richard: Chamber Airs for a Violin and Thorough Bass Op. 2, No. 4 in A Minor

Compared to the repertories of Italy and Germany, the glories of English instrumental music of the 17th and early 18th Centuries are largely unknown. Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque shed light on this underappreciated era on The Muses Restor'd, a journey of captivating violin-led chamber music from Jacobean to Early Georgian England, ranging from the gentle intimacy of consort idioms to the full-blown instrumental virtuosity of the evolving baroque period. This beautifully refined and intimately chiselled chamber music celebrates a rich tradition where the violin joins a plethora of keyboards, lutes, viol and continuo cello reinstating these sonatas, fantasies, suites, grounds and popular tunes to the mainstream of English cultural life of the time. Together with four musicians of Brecon Baroque, Rachel Podger performs works by Handel, Lawes, Blow, Locke, Purcell, Schop, Jenkins, Baltzar and Jones.

"This exploration of post-1660 English music and its influences from Rachel Podger plays out as a veritable cornucopia of musical shapes and languages." - Gramophone Magazine, June 2024