There is music where a highly specific sound is indispensable: one thinks of the solitary bassoon in the Handel arias Scherza infida (Ariodante), or Pena tiranna (Amadigi). No getting round it; you have to have a mournful bassoon in those arias. When it comes to a violin strung and played in a “baroque” manner, it is a different matter. No one will persuade me that a “baroque” violin sounds better than a modern strung violin, nor that the baroque instrument adds a je ne sais quoi to the sound and performance of 18th century music (whatever the current fashion critics may decree). The only thing I will concede is that in a large room or a small hall, a modern violin risks being somewhat over-loud unless played appropriately (I was once nearly deafened at a violin recital in London's Wigmore Hall by a modern violin and violinist playing at full Lamborghini throttle). This is not a factor in recordings, or in off-air listening, of course.
More out of curiosity rather than need (I already have fourteen sets of the six sonatas and partitas for solo violin by J.S. Bach) I bought a new set by a violinist I had never come across: Leila Schayegh, a Swiss woman playing a Guarneri violin “in a baroque manner”. I had never heard a Swiss violinist before, so I decided to buy the set on a whim. It turned out to be an excellent acquisition. Leila has a wonderful sense of dance rhythms, and of light and shade. Technically she is first class, with intelligent playing, and she sounds as if she loves and enjoys the music she is playing (most important in Bach performances). She even ends the ciaccona of the second partita in a way I like: quiet and meditative. And she get the ciaccona under 13 minutes, of which I heartily approve; some violinists really drag it out as if they are playing César Franck. Despite my fourteen alternative complete sets; after a couple of drinks, I might even declare Schayegh to be my favourite of them all.
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