Giovanni Battista Somis (1686-1763), pupil of Corelli and teacher of Leclair, Pugnani and many others, has always been seen as an important figure in the family tree of violin pedagogy but his music has remained in the shadows. His Op 1 Violin Sonatas, published in 1717, stay within modest technical boundaries and all follow the same three-movement pattern – adagio, allegro, allegro – later adopted by Tartini. Nearly all the quicker movements are in binary form, yet on this recording the second sections are rarely repeated; one imagines this is to enable all 12 sonatas to fit on to a single disc. Within this standard pattern, Somis introduces plenty of contrast; he gives us adagios of varying characters and final movements in the idiom of minuet, gavotte or gigue, or simply lightens the tone of the previous movement.

The performances are, in the main, impressive. The overall sound is good and Kreeta-Maria Kentala plays with lively expression, introducing imaginative decoration, especially in the adagios. And she’s very well supported (several sonatas, after the manner of Corelli, have a basso part that’s equivalent in interest to the violin line). I do wonder whether some of the ornamentation is too extravagant (the opening of Sonata No 4, for once with little decoration, sounds particularly beautiful) and, more generally, I’m disturbed by an excessive striving for effect. This extends to the introduction of harpsichord solos and the addition of short extra passages, some of which sound altogether inept. The music is worthwhile, as this CD amply demonstrates, and doesn’t need any such assistance.