Reviewed by Simon Carpenter

A previous recording by Jacqueline Ross was described by The Strad as ". . .polish and precision. . . committed stylish performances. . . recorded balance is excellent." I didn't check to see what words were missed out and replaced by dots by Guadeamus in their publicity blurb for this album, but I don't suppose they included words such "rubbish". This present album sounds great to me, and I am not going to disagree with The Strad in their assessment of Ms Ross's playing and interpretation. This is the first of two albums of Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and concludes her recordings of Bach's complete solo violin music for Gaudeamus. There are 16 tracks in total, giving a total of nearly 70 minutes of music. The first four and final four comprise the movements of the Sonata No 1 in G minor and Sonata No 2 in A minor and in between these are the eight movements of the Partita No 1 in B minor. Together they are acknowledged by experts to be the culmination of polyphonic writing for a stringed instrument in the baroque era. And I'm not disagreeing with that assessment either. This is a truly rewarding listening experience.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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