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Impressive Festing Violin Sonatas

David Vernier

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There certainly are composers from past eras whose music doesn’t merit serious modern-day scrutiny, but that’s not true of the work of 18th-century English violinist/composer Michael Christian Festing (1705-52). We can only speculate as to why his very attractive violin sonatas, rooted in Italian style (he studied violin with Geminiani, himself a student of Corelli), are not so well known today, but there’s much to enjoy in this selection from his Op. 1, Op. 7, and Op. 8 sets.

Festing was a busy and very popular musician in London during the 1730s and ’40s, and the writing, from the early 12 Solos for a Violin and Thorough Bass Op. 1 (1730) to his much later Six Solos for a Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord Op. 8 (1750), shows a clever and imaginative treatment of the violin, technically ambitious enough to hold our interest yet not what today we would call virtuosic. Rather, this is music–and a program–whose stylistic consistency, varied and carefully contrasting individual movements, and solid, expressive performances ensure an hour of easy and comfortable listening.

Violinist Martin Davids revels–and allows us to do the same–in the voice of his 1750 Ferdinando Alberti instrument, with assured and very articulate bowing, masterful phrasing, and discreet use of vibrato. His partners, harpsichordist Karen Flint and cellist John Mark Rozendaal, experienced early music performers who are anything but merely subordinate players in these pieces, make a fine ensemble, and the suitably dry acoustic gives an edgy vibrant quality to the sound that brings us close and lets us feel the instruments’ presence. A rewarding choice for fans of the violin and of Baroque period performance.


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