Biber Sonatas - Musica Alchemica
Lina Tur Bonet is not new to Biber or to virtuosic baroque violin music. Her album covers always speak to some degree of whimsy. Who else would adorn angel’s wings in the liner notes to Biber’s Mystery Sonatas? I auditioned this new release on Glossa via Qobuz.
Four of the eight sonatas (1, 3,, 5, 6) from Biber’s 1681 collection are represented, alongside the final suite from his collection so-called Artificioso-ariosa collection which features Tur Bonet on viola d’amore alongside her colleague, Valerio Losito. The liner notes are disappointing and incomplete; it’s as if the second page of track listings is missing. Otherwise, the notes, written by Tur Bonet, are personal and historically intriguing. They try and determine whether or not we can understand a composer by the music they left behind.
The recording is resplendently full of reverb and color. Not all like the color, but without significant judgement, I will say that the star is close enough to my liking and that the decision to record with some air around the group works. The sound I felt worked better with speakers than headphones but even so it’s well done.
Three notable recordings of these works include those by Gunar Letzbor, John Holloway, Andrew Manze, and Monica Huggett. These by Tur Bonet I felt were the most extrovert in style to the others. Especially satisfying was the amount of bass realized by the continuo; the use of organ helped make this stand out.
The presto of the first sonata on disc (#3) speaks to the artist’s cover, as if she’s about to rip on an electric guitar. That notion comes across multiple times as an extroverted baroque rock star, which on the surface sounds suspect, but always seems to work in her favor.
The fifth sonata (in C minor) is one of my favorites and was so well done by Huggett. Tur Bonet rips it up in a new way, to my ears; it does not take away from the more solemn reading by Huggett but nevertheless makes great art in her more hurried reading. Her tone is so clear in the upper register. In this sonata the plucked continuo makes an impact, just before the violinist is asked to sing on the same intoned pitch across multiple strings. It’s a striking sonic effect and it’s done well here with lots of drive and energy.
The final string suite may not replace my favorite by Il Giardino Armonico, who also recorded it by itself as part of a concept album. Tur Bonet and her ensemble do it good justice, however, with plenty of dynamite.
The cover may say a lot, actually, about Tur Bonet’s style. This was a thoroughly well played and well-styled recital of Biber. I hope there’s more to follow from the same collections. While not the first disc to approach these works with such verve and flash, it should serve as a representative disc of what’s possible at moving the audience with this virtuosic repertoire. It helps maintain the prestige Biber once held as Europe’s finest violinist.
