A soiree presented by Jean-Marie Leclair for one of his wealthy patrons would never have run through his sonatas for violin and continuo in sequence, as Baroque violinist
Adrian Butterfield and his small ensemble have done here and on the predecessor of this disc, which offered the first four sonatas of Leclair's Op. 1. Yet these little sonatas, Italian in conception yet thoroughly French in spirit, are worth systematically recording to see exactly how the combination works. It is the slow movements, each of which on this disc is entirely individual in construction, that reveal Leclair's French roots in their heavy ornamentation and affecting spirit. They make lovely contrasts with the outer movements, in which Leclair reveals his debt to his model, Arcangelo Corelli. The performances by British Baroque violinist
Adrian Butterfield, with a conventional continuo of viola da gamba (
Alison McGillivray) and harpsichord (
Laurence Cummings), break little new ground but are entirely sympathetic to Leclair in spirit.
Butterfield is smooth in even the most intricate ornaments. This can be recommended for large Baroque collections and even for general listeners interested in sampling period violin style; "authentic" performances are rarely done with such confidence and verve.