French Baroque Archive

MONDONVILLE: Trio Sonatas – Johannes Pramsohler/ Ens. Diderot – Audax

by Audiophile Audition | Dec 18, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

MONDONVILLE: Trio Sonatas Op. 2 – Johannes Pramsohler/ Ensemble Diderot – Audax 13707, 67:22 (11/8/16) ****: World premier chamber music from the twilight era of the French Baroque led by researcher/performer Johannes Pramsohler. (Johannes Pramsohler- violin/ Roldan Bernabe – violin/ Kristen Huebner – transverse flute/ Gulrim Choi – baroque cello/ Philippe Grisvard – harpsichord) Johannes Pramsohler, the leader of Ensemble Diderot, has dedicated a couple of recent recordings to unknown or neglected works from the Baroque period. Early Music fans will certainly welcome the findings, especially as in this case, they consist of the most central chamber music of the time–the trio sonata–and are by a composer who is not at all a minor figure, Jean-Joseph Mondonville. How these pieces have lain about unnoticed is beyond me, for they are quite good. Mondonville was the director of the Concert Spirituel around the middle of the century and is known primarily as a composer of grand motets. His instrument, however, was the violin, which is the dominant voice the works under review here. Mr. Pramsohler plays a Rogeri 1713 baroque violin, which blends nicely with Roldan Bernabe’s 1992 instrument modelled on a period violin. In fact, it is occasionally hard to […]