Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin are pinnacles of the repertoire—beautiful, mysterious works that test a violinist’s technical and musical skills to their limits. It’s music that’s perfectly suited to Giuliano Carmignola, one of today’s great Baroque performers. His playing has a beguiling rhythmic freedom that highlights the music’s spontaneity and an expressiveness that penetrates its soul. The Presto from the Sonata No. 1, one of Bach’s most exhilarating movements, is a thrilling ride, while the tender Sarabande from Partita No. 1 sings and sighs. And the Chaconne from the second partita, an astonishing 14-minute set of 32 variations, emerges glorious, noble, and majestic—a miracle of Baroque performance.
- Ottavio Dantone & Accademia Bizantina
- Isabelle Faust, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck & Xenia Loeffler
- Kammerorchester Basel & Giovanni Antonini
- Julien Martineau, Concerto Italiano, Boris Begelman & Rinaldo Alessandrini
- Rachel Podger
- Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado & Kristian Bezuidenhout
- Ophélie Gaillard & Pulcinella Orchestra