A Virtuoso Faceoff (CD)

Release Date: 01/01/10

This is a very fine disc indeed, with richly recorded instruments in a generous acoustic. The organ of the Church of St.

This is a very fine disc indeed, with richly recorded instruments in a generous acoustic. The organ of the Church of St. Lawrence in Janakkala is a modern reproduction of the Baroque instrument in St. Cosmae in Stade, North Germany, and very fine it sounds too. There is plenty of rich bass, and the overall sound is rounded and refined. The ‘close to mean temperament’ gives the occasional authentic frisson of marginal tuning, but nothing about this recording or any of its instruments or performances are in any way hair-shirt. Petri Tapio Mattson’s violin playing is very fine, rather in the school of players like John Holloway and Andrew Manze, and not afraid of some extra colour and vibrato where appropriate. The support of both organ and lute is magnificent, resonant and restrained. The SACD sound is particularly fine, bringing what is already a very good stereo recording marvellously to life and adding extra dimensions in particular to the organ, which can otherwise become just a tad muddy through the richness of the lower notes in the CD mix. Whatever your opinion about the concept of the title, these two composers complement each other superbly, and the Sonata in D major by Georg Muffat is quite a discovery. Does bow beat rolled-up score in this game of rock-paper-stok? Who cares, this is sheer Baroque delight.Dominy Clements