Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir, Sabine Erdmann, Magnus Andersson: Baroque Violin Sonatas
Solaire Records

There's much to recommend this fine addition to Solaire's catalogue—the exceptional performances, most of all—but certainly the choice of repertoire is at the forefront. Rather than gravitate to familiar material of the Baroque era, organist Sabine Erdmann, theorboist Magnus Andersson, and violinist Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir opted for less predictable fare, with the album featuring selections by seventeenth-century composers Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Philipp Friedrich Böddecker, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, and Johann Erasmus Kindermann. Of the four, Biber's well known but the others less so: whereas Schmelzer was a leading composer of his time, he's rarely performed today, and Kindermann is a mostly forgotten figure whose material Andersson unearthed from an online music archive in Uppsala, Sweden.

After friends suggested Erdmann record an album featuring the music of Biber's time, she recruited Andersson and Kristinsdóttir and the search for repertoire began. Potential selections for the recording were made and run-throughs undertaken to help guide the trio through the selection process. After Kristinsdóttir (entrusted by Erdmann to do so) generated the final set-list, the three played a few warm-up gigs in German before recording the material in July 2019 at Kirche Zum Heiligen Kreuz in Berlin.

Naturally the combination of violin, chest organ, and theorbo (a plucked, lute-like string instrument with an extended neck and second pegbox) is one of the recording's distinguishing qualities. In contrast to the harpsichord, the chest organ is able to generate warm tones of longer duration, and the theorbo's lower frequencies likewise make it an effective part of the continuo. The foundation the two instruments establish allows the violin a magnificent base over which to soar (see the faster passages in “Aria” in Biber's Sonata II in D dorian, C 139 as an example). A broad range of moods is traversed, from joyful dance settings to slow, plaintive reveries. Such contrasts are not only evident between the works and between movements within a work but emerge within a single piece of music too. As formally sophisticated and elegant they are as compositions, emotional expression is also central, a dimension the musicians bring forth vividly.

Böddecker's stately Sonata in D minor provides an effective entry-point, illustrating as it does so clearly the interlacing of the instruments and the timbral contrasts between them. At this early juncture, it's already apparent that while violin is the primary melodic element, chest organ and theorbo do considerably more than provide a passive backdrop. Kindermann's graceful Sonata for Violin and Basso Continuo in D minor showcases the effectiveness of the violin-and-organ combination. Biber's represented by three multi-movement pieces, his Sonata VI in C minor, C 143 a particularly memorable account of his music (interesting also for its inclusion of three Scordatura movements). At album's end, Schmelzer's Sonata IV in D major ranges from the gentle lilt of the “Sarabande” to the liveliness of the “Gigue.”

The performances indicate not only a shared perspective on the material but a highly telepathic degree of interplay. Baroque music in general exudes a communal feel where the instruments are intricately connected. The balance shifts naturally in the violin sonatas, but even then the basso continuo part remains critical to the design. Further to that, the aggressive role adopted by Erdmann and Andersson makes them more than mere accompanists. Kristinsdóttir shoulders the major part of the melodic weight but shows herself up to the challenge, her playing a marvel throughout. She distinguishes herself magnificently in Schmelzer's Sonata Tertia in G minor, but singling out any one performance risks implying others aren't as powerful (compare it to her turn, for instance, in the “Allegro. Variatio” movement in Biber's Sonata V in E minor, C 142).

Included with the CD release is an eighty-page booklet containing articles, photographs, and an interview (the texts in German and English). The article profiles are particularly enhancing, with one dedicated to each of the three musicians. Details about their backgrounds, instruments, and musical philosophies complement the performances by providing an in-depth personal dimension. Had one come to the recording unfamiliar with the artists involved, one would come away from it with not only a deep regard for them as musicians but also a strong appreciation for them as human beings.

July 2020