My appreciation and admiration for violinist Rachel Barton Pine grows with each new recording she releases. Here she is joined by John Mark Rozendaal on viola da gamba and 'cello and David Schrader on harpsichord and positiv organ as the original-instruments group Trio Settecento in an album of German Baroque chamber music. Combine the Trio's eloquent playing with Cedille's unparalleled audio reproduction, and you get yet another of Ms. Pine's exquisite recordings.
The Trio Settecento have been performing together on period instruments since 1996 and have entertained audiences the world over, live and on disc. They cannot be faulted in realizations that are lively, poignant, and exciting by turns. The performances are festive, imaginative, intense, and simply a joy to listen to.
Of course, it also helps that Cedille's chief engineer, Bill Maylone, again provides us with a first-rate audiophile recording. Made in 2008, it's yet another one of those reach-out-and-touch-it affairs where you feel you are there with the performers in Nicholas Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago.
John J. Puccio
Classical Candor