Geminiani - Alison McGillivray - The Times

Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) was a Londoner. He played the violin for King George with Handel at the harpsichord. What a multicultured city! The six sonatas that he wrote in 1746 for cello and continuo are played here by solo cellist Alison McGillivray, cembalist David McGuinness, continuo cellist Joe Crouch and baroque guitarist Eligio Quinteiro. The sounds contrast. The gut-strung cellists keep their distance pitch-wise, while McGuinness's metallic tinkling is a silver context for the soloist. Quinteiro's Baroque guitar plunks quietly, modestly and seductively in the background. No one would know that his instrument, electrified, would one day rule the world. The music swings from sighing movements to cheerful jigs. It is the music that a confident London danced to in the days of burgeoning internationalism, played with a tad too much sedate protocol.