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Daniel Hope's adventurous spirit this time leads him into repertoire that's familiar to Baroque violinists but which few "modern" players have ventured into: that of the 17th-century virtuosi who took the first steps in making the fiddle the concert instrument it is now. To judge from his impeccably stylish performances, Hope has the music-making of period colleagues ringing in his ears; but although there's more than a touch of the Hespèrions, for instance, about his bubbling, percussion-enhanced accounts of Falconieri and Ortiz, it would be wrong to suggest that he's "playing at Baroque" rather than creating something that's individual and true to himself.For a start, his choice of music is clearly the product of much consideration, for alongside favourites such as the Pachelbel Canon and Bach's "Air on a G String" (exquisitely performed with a one-to-a-part ensemble drawn from members of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Hope homes in on single, characterful movements from relatively obscure larger works, including sonatas by the dazzling German Johann Paul von Westhoff, whom even period players have tended to neglect.The concertos by Telemann and Geminiani are thoughtfully chosen, and there is also a handful of specially made arrangements. So what impression will be gained by new listeners following Hope and his excellent collaborators in this repertoire? He himself says he wants to emphasise the modern-ness of the music, and the exotic attraction some of these wandering composer-violinists must have had in person. In this he succeeds entirely, for this is an exciting disc with a heady, pied-piper power over the listener that comes from realising that the bright sense of discovery once felt by these composers is being experienced just as much by their modern-day interpreters. You can't ask for much more than that.&mdash;Lindsay Kemp

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