Jaap Schröder is an éminence grise of the Baroque violin, a name synonymous with the pioneering achievements of the Dutch and British ‘early music movement’ in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Recorded in 1999, this Icelandic-produced account of the six obbligato harpsichord and violin sonatas is something of a throwback. Vibrato is used sparingly but articulation is rather more in the neo-classical tradition of unremittingly aspirated lines, recalling the (currently deleted) DG disc on which Eduard Melkus performs on a souped-up instrument so as to engage with selected historically aware possibilities.

I am not suggesting that this is the case here but Schröder digs into his lines and stays there until the phrases are properly burnt. Such bullish playing results in sharpness in the higher register and a limited coloration in the both fragrant A major Sonata and serioso grandeur of the opening of the E major, but there is also some admirably fearless and unfettered playing here, as we hear in the thrilling rapier-like passages of the last movement. The style with which current Baroque violinists can caress, control and manipulate their instruments is missing; and yet Schröder is an honest burgher who studiously avoids gratuitous surging, bending and basking. His minor-key sonatas are seasoned in their well-projected longeur with the slow movements containing a real breadth of sentiment. The F minor Sonata is afforded a quiet nobility in a low-key reading which comes off especially well.

These sonatas are to all intents and purposes trios in that the violin is often found darting in and out of the florid right hand of the harpsichord in playful dove-tailing. It requires adept ensemble to present a cohesive ideal of this most refined of chamber idioms and Helga Ingólfsdóttir is a small-scale but steady and intelligent partner who listens well, even if she goes easy on elegance. Compared to Fabio Biondi and Rachel Podger, this is not a serious contender but it has its charms.