Christina Day Martinson, Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque – Biber: The Mystery Sonatas (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Heinrich Biber’s astonishingly powerful and deeply emotional Mystery Sonatas represent a triumph of Baroque invention. Boston Classical Review described Christina Day Martinson’s live performance as ‘a flourish of technical complexity and musical wizardry’, whilst the Boston Globe wrote, ‘Day Martinson…didn’t just survive, she triumphed.’

The adventurous use of six baroque violins in fifteen different tunings creates otherworldly soundscapes that result in a deeply moving and glorious listening experience. This highly disorientating practice reaches its pinnacle in Sonata XI (The Resurrection) where the middle two strings are crossed over each other both in the peg box and behind the bridge, so that one can literally see a cross on the violin. The fifteen sonatas have been traditionally grouped into three sets of five: five joyful mysteries, five sorrowful mysteries, and five glorious mysteries.

Boston Baroque’s founder Martin Pearlman plays organ and harpsichord, with Michael Leopold on theorbo and guitar and Michael Unterman on cello.

Tracklist:
1. Boston Baroque – Sonata I in D minor ‘The Annunciation’: Praeludium – Aria and 2 variations – Finale (05:31)
2. Boston Baroque – Sonata II in A major ‘The Visitation’: [Sonata] / Presto – Allamanda – Presto (04:55)
3. Boston Baroque – Sonata III in B minor ‘The Nativity’: [Sonata] / Presto – Courente and double – Adagio (06:53)
4. Boston Baroque – Sonata IV in D minor ‘The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple’: Ciacona with 12 variations (08:05)
5. Boston Baroque – Sonata V in A major ‘The Finding of Jesus in the Temple’: Praeludium – Allamanda – Gigue – Sarabande and double (07:08)
6. Boston Baroque – Sonata VI in C minor ‘The Agony in the Garden’: Lamento (08:13)
7. Boston Baroque – Sonata VII in F major ‘The Scourging of Jesus’: Allamanda and variation – Sarabanda and 3 variations (09:04)
8. Boston Baroque – Sonata VIII in B flat major ‘The Crowning with Thorns’: Sonata: Adagio / Presto – Gigue and 2 doubles (06:30)
9. Boston Baroque – Sonata IX in A minor ‘The Carrying of the Cross’: Sonata – Courente and 2 doubles – Final (07:14)
10. Boston Baroque – Sonata X in G minor ‘The Crucifixion’: Praeludium – Aria and 5 variations (08:57)
11. Boston Baroque – Sonata XI in G major ‘The Resurrection’: Sonata – Hymn ‘Surrexit Christus hodie’ and variations (08:04)
12. Boston Baroque – Sonata XII in C major ‘The Ascension’: Intrada – Aria tubicinum – Allemanda – Courante and double (07:00)
13. Boston Baroque – Sonata XIII in D minor ‘The Descent of the Holy Ghost’: Sonata – Gavotte – Gigue – Sarabanda (07:44)
14. Boston Baroque – Sonata XIV in D major ‘The Assumption of the Virgin’: [Sonata] – Arias 1 and 2 – Gigue (08:22)
15. Boston Baroque – Sonata XV in C major ‘The Coronation of the Virgin’: Sonata – Aria with 3 doubles – Canzona – Sarabanda and double (08:37)
16. Boston Baroque – Passacaglia in G minor for solo violin (07:47)