One Helluva Fiddler

A few years have passed since I last sat down to listen to the reading of Bach's six Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin done by violinist Rachel Podger (in two volumes, here and here), and hearing it again reminded me afresh of what a first-rate talent Ms. Podger is, both as a fiddler and musician. Hearing these recordings again also caused me to search for my weblog remarks on this reading, and — most egregious oversight! — there were none. I hasten now to correct that unforgivable omission.

First, a dispelling of some unfortunate notions that might be provoked by the hyped manner in which these recordings have been billed and promoted.

Rachel Podger is billed as a Baroque specialist performing on a "Baroque violin." Quite apart from the fact that, except for minor details of configuration, there is, per se, no such instrument, this sort of hype instantly conjures a picture of a pasty-faced, gruel-blooded little wonk, performing on an instrument with a sound about as rich and subtle as a kazoo, who will do everything in her power to rob the music of anything remotely musically expressive, and turn in a performance done at breakneck tempi and with a superabundance of gratuitous pseudo-Baroque ornament (pseudo because conceived by a 21st-century musical imagination and sensibility). Which is to say, produce a reading fit for nothing other than the rubbish bin.

None of the above is the case with this reading. Ms. Podger's instrument, from the sound of it, is of the classic Cremona school, strung with gut rather than steel-wound strings. In other words, the kind of fiddle we're all used to hearing, but with a warmer, very slightly more nasal sound. As for Ms. Podger herself, no pasty-faced, gruel-blooded little wonk she. Her playing glows with robust good health, and is as full-blooded and expressive as any produced by the famous fiddlers of the Auer School (Heifetz and Milstein being the most well-known of that group). So you can retire any HIP performance images you might have in advance harbored concerning this reading.

As Shiva is the destroyer of worlds, the six Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin are collectively the destroyer of fiddle players. No fiddler dares even approach them unless his technique is nothing short of formidable. But that's only the first requisite. If you're a concert fiddler typical of the current generation whose technique is certainly formidable, but whose readings of the repertoire are replete with the grafted-on expressive schtick of the Auer Gang (sorry, couldn't resist) as it too often is, you'd best stay away from this music, for if you attempt it you'll be revealed instantly for the musically empty shell that you are.

Ms. Podger, however, has nothing to fear on any count. Her technique is formidable indeed; formidable and secure to the point of transparency. And there's no schtick or grafting-on of anything in her reading of these works. Her playing is muscular, lyrical, sinewy, sweet, or impassioned as the music variously requires, with the overarching principle of the poetic always and prominently in evidence. From the mystical Adagio of the G-minor Sonata, to the furious Allegro Assai of the C-major; from the playful Corrente of the B-minor Partita, to the majestic and profound Ciaccona of the D-minor, everything resonates right and true. There's no greasy kid stuff here, and no heroic, Romantic posturing à la ... just about every other non-Baroque-specialist fiddler who has recorded this work, the second Milstein reading alone perhaps excepted. This reading will take some getting used to for many brought up on 20th- and 21st-century readings of these six sonatas and partitas (especially of the Ciaccona), but will repay a hundred-fold the slight adjustment required.

Ms. Podger is one helluva fiddler, and a first-rate musician into the bargain, and I can't praise too highly this reading, both to those for whom this music is familiar, and to those coming to it for the first time.

Do buy and listen to these recordings. It will benefit you both mind and soul alike.

(A quick note concerning the audio of the recordings themselves: Both volumes employ an acoustic a bit too reverberant for my tastes, Volume 2 seemingly more than Volume 1, but it's in no way intrusive or even close to being inappropriate, and so no barrier to one's listening enjoyment.)