Besides being a virtuoso musician, Fabio Biondi is a showman. His entrance in the opening sonata, in which his violin emerges magically from the harpsichord"s foreground harmony, is a marvelous foretelling of this performer"s ability to draw us in and keep us there. Biondi treats these six sonatas, which receive far too little respect from violinists, as full-fledged concert performance pieces, giving them the full measure of his impressive technique. --David Vernier