The spate of Biber recordings dried up once the 2004 tercentenary commemoration of his death was over. This new recording of the Mystery Sonatas seems to be the first to appear since then: it can be warmly recommended to anyone wanting a complete set, as indeed can all the versions listed above.

The Mystery or Rosary Sonatas, arranged in three groups of five, are musical representations of events in the life of the Virgin Mary. They proceed from the Annunciation to the Assumption and beyond, but most are actually centred on Christ. In the manuscript, each sonata is accompanied by an illustration: these vignettes, 16 in all, are reproduced in the Beznosiuk and Manze versions.

The continuo groups range from the austere Piérot and Manze (string bass and keyboard only) to the full-on Huggett (Sonnerie in all its glory). Riccardo Minasi belongs to the latter camp, but the playing of Bizzarrie Armoniche is quite restrained. Not so his own playing, which is full of vim. I loved the way he digs in to the Sarabande of No 7 and the “Guigue” of No 8. Similarly, his spiccato playing in the next movement of No 8, the presto Double, is wondrous. Elsewhere, as in the Double of No 5, a sensitive use of rubato is combined with the merest wisp of tone. This is also true of the Passacaglia that is a kind of pendant to the set. Some movements are repeated, for no apparent reason, but who cares? This is great playing.