Trio Sonnerie - Leclair: Sonatas for Violin (1984)

Jean-Marie Leclair (1697 - 1764): Three Sonatas for Violin and Continuo: Sonata in C minor, Op. 5 No. 6 "Le Tombeau"; Sonata in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 9; Sonata in G major, Op. 9 No. 7 "Qui peut se jouer sur la flute allemande". Performed by Trio Sonnerie [Monica Huggett, baroque violin; Sarah Cunningham, viola da gamba; Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord]. Recorded at Claydon House, Buckinghamshire, England [no date given]; released in 1984 as ASV Gaudeamus CD GAU 106. Total playing time: 51'22".

This CD was released, at the moment of writing, 28 years ago, and if you are used to today's sound, you may find the engineering a little on the pale side, with the violin very much in the centre of attention and the continuo only occasionally able to rise above a mere accompaniment. However, it is Monica Huggett's performance which ensure the disc a five-star rating, fully justifying ASV's quote from the French classical musical magazine: "Leclair's violin has never been so well represented."

The notes are by Monica Huggett herself, and she not only ably points to the most interesting passages but also gives a brief run-down on Leclair's career (but omitting the story of his murder at the hands of his nephew). She quotes an 18th century description of a concert once given by Leclair together with Pietro Locatelli in Cassel, Germany, after which it was claimed that Leclair "played like an angel" (and Locatelli "like a devil"). Monica Huggett herself here slips into the role of the angel and delivers this music as surefootedly as though she had imbibed Leclair's style with her mother's milk: I think this must be one of the most beautiful recordings of the baroque violin (complete with gut strings) that I have ever heard. Leclair was, one gathers, something of a crabbed personality, but there is nothing of that to be heard in his music, which unites the best aspects of the French and Italian styles in a series of highly melodious, but also virtuoso passages containing, as Monica Huggett points out, "a plethora of double stops". This is delicious listening despite the limitations of the 1984 recorded sound and highly likely to win sceptics over to "period instrument performance"! Unfortunately, it seems that the CD is now quite difficult to obtain, but it is certainly worth searching for - I recommend turning to one or more of Amazon's European sister-sites, not only for this but also for Monica Huggett's recording of some of Leclair's Violin Concertos (together with Canada's L'Ensemble Arion and Claire Guimond on the baroque flute, published by Atma).