Bach is known to have been a very good violinist. In his booklet essay, Pavlo Beznosiuk makes the point that players working at the Sonatas and Partitas experience a kinaesthetic contact with the composer: “He guides our fingers over the four strings.” Listening to these performances, one is aware that Beznosiuk has developed a deep understanding of these works that unites their physical, intellectual and emotional aspects. Articulation, accentuation and phrasing grow naturally out of the music, without any need to impose an interpretative view. In the Chaconne, for example, he succeeds in finding a persuasive character for each episode while keeping throughout to the basic tempo.

Playing at a slightly lower pitch (A=410) than the common Baroque standard, Beznosiuk’s 17th-century Flemish violin sounds mellow, with a distinctive “stringy” character. His meditative approach is especially persuasive and enthralling in the slower movements – the openings of the three sonatas, for example – and the more elegant dances, such as the Gavotte and Minuet in the Third Partita. Other Baroque violinists, however (John Holloway, for instance), have equalled Beznosiuk’s engagement with the music but play more to the audience, bringing into play a wider dynamic range and imparting momentum and energy to give the performance a more exciting impact. If we listen to the Corrente and Double (variation) in the First Partita, it’s clear that Beznosiuk’s beautifully phrased accounts miss an element of outgoing vitality, which Holloway embraces wholeheartedly.

There seems no doubt that Bach was aiming in this collection at a comprehensive exploration of the violin’s capabilities. He’d heard some of the great virtuosos of the time – Westhoff and Pisendel – and seen the music of others like Vivaldi. Virtuosity is an important element in many movements in the Sonatas and Partitas, an element that’s not fully expressed in Beznosiuk’s clean, accurate playing of such pieces as the finale of the Third Sonata. Next to the brilliant Rachel Podger he sounds rather too careful and lacking impetus. So, as a first choice on Baroque violin, I’d turn to Podger or Holloway but I’d commend Beznosiuk as a valid, deeply considered alternative.