Baroque Violin Concertos Huang [MC]: Classical CD Reviews- March 2003 MusicWeb(UK)

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Classical Editor: Rob Barnett Founder Len Mullenger

Baroque Violin Favourites
Tomaso VITALI (1663-1745)
Chaconne in G minor
Giuseppe TARTINI (1692-1770)
The Devil’s Trill
Arcangelo CORELLI (1653-1713)
La Folia
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Air on the G string (arr. from Suite in D major BWV 1068)
Partita in E major, BWV 1006 (Excerpts)
George Frederick HANDEL (1685-1759)
Sonata in D major Op. 1 No.13
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Sonata in A major RV 31

Bin Huang (violin)
Hyun-Sun Kim (piano)
Recorded at the River Run Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 23-24 January 2002 DDD

NAXOS 8.555960 [63:58]

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This is a splendid release presents extremely well known baroque violin sonatas. The Tartini ‘Devil’s Trill’, Corelli’s ‘La Folia’ and the J.S. Bach ‘Air on a G string’ are all well known.

As a lover of period performances on original instruments I would have preferred the use of basso continuo as opposed to a piano as the accompaniment. My disappointment over the lack of authentic accompaniment was more than compensated for as Chinese-born soloist Bin Huang gives an inspirational performance in this often difficult baroque repertoire. The superb soloist plays with such immediacy and spontaneity that her performance has the feel of a live recital rather than the studio recording that it is. The same evening after first listening to this release I heard a recital on the radio from the Wigmore Hall featuring the world famous violinist Joshua Bell and when comparing their respective performances. Bin Huang wins hands down.

The recorded sound is acceptable with the violin being slightly set back and the sound fitting into a narrow range. I would have preferred a warmer sound with more bloom but maybe that lack of opulence assists the ‘live’ feel of the performance. The pianist Hyun-Sun Kim plays sympathetically and one soon gets used to the sound of the modern piano.

Award-winning soloist Bin Huang is a hidden gem of a player giving a wonderful performance. She undoubtedly deserves wider public acclaim.

Michael Cookson

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