These are extracted works from a collection of mid-seventeenth century chamber sonatas, “A Desire for the Choicest Sonatas”. There are 24 originally included, and here we have 10 (and yes, it seems as if there was room for one or two more). Authorship is a problem, with the exception of a few sonatas, and all part books contain the initials “J.S.A.B.” The notes inform us that there is only one extant copy currently residing in the Paris National Library. You can see in the heading the composers contained, and only Schmeltzer and the ever-original Bertali will strike most people’s knowledge base. It is hypothesized (again, from the notes) that perhaps the initials stood for Johann Schmeltzer/ Antonio Bertali, but this is a curiosity, albeit of considerable interest if you are into that sort of thing. The one important question: are these sonatas indeed the “choicest”?
Well, probably not. I mean, out of all the sonatas of this era can we possibly list only 24 as worthy to be included in such a collection? While the notes disparage the idea that this was a mere marketing ploy on the part of the publishers, to me it has just that written all over it. But this is not a bad thing—after all, if you know the work of Schmeltzer or Bertali, you will know the sort of thing to expect here, and their music is quite formidable and challenging, making for an interesting listening session. Chatham Baroque has long ago proven their mettle in this kind of style, with very colorful and varied performances of great adeptness and agility. Dorian provides splendid sound, and a good time will be had by all!
— Steven Ritter
