Gregory Fulkerson may not be the biggest name in the violin business, but he sure plays like it. Here's one set of Sonatas and Partitas that positively revels in the music's virtuoso challenges, and comparisons to those classic sets by Grumiaux and Milstein come immediately to mind. In his very useful and intelligent notes, Fulkerson acknowledges the contributions of the period instrument movement to his understanding of the music, but fortunately there's nothing at all pedantic or self-conscious about his approach. The "big movements", such as the great D minor chaconne or the C major suite's enormous fugue, strike the right balance between bigness of scale and forward impetus, and his intonation never wavers for a moment. The dance movements (check out the first Partita's Corrente and its presto Double) have an infectious rhythmic lilt, and Fulkerson clearly knows how to make his instrument sing Bach's long-limbed lyrical melodies, as in the second sonata's Andante, or the Third's Largo.

The recording places the instrument well back from the microphone, and achieves a remarkably realistic, room-filling impression. It also allows Fulkerson to display his full dynamic range, from a whispered pianissimo to a grandly powerful forte. At two discs for the price of one, this set easily takes its place among the elite versions of these musical monuments to the expressive qualities of the violin.

--David Hurwitz