About this Artist

• Biography

Editorial Reviews

Cellist Anthony Pleeth was at the center of the period-instrument movement in London in the '70s. Taught by his father William, the great English cello pedagogue, Pleeth had traded in his modern instrument for a period instrument early on, and by the mid-'70s he was heading the cello sections in both Trevor Pinnock's English Concert and Christopher Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music. In 1975, Pleeth took a break from orchestral playing to record this disc of Geminiani's six cello sonatas for L'Oiseau-Lyre with Hogwood as harpsichordist and Richard Webb as continuo cellist, which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be among the most exquisite cello recordings of the '70s. Naturally, Pleeth employs nearly no vibrato, but his phrasing and his judicious application of crescendos and decrescendos make his playing sing in the slow movements. And, of course, Pleeth deploys an impressive technique that sails through the writing of the virtuoso fast movements. But best of all, he searches out the music's emotional core, the lamenting melancholy of the "D minor Sonata"'s Adagio or the gracious elegance of the "C major Sonata"'s Affettuoso, and expresses it with supreme poise and sympathy. Though Hogwood and Webb's contributions are minimal and L'Oiseau-Lyre's stereo sound is dry, this disc is well worth hearing by anyone interested in period cello playing. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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