Mr Corelli in London

 �Steger nicely sets the scene, telling of England�s obsession with Corelli�s music and of the convivial societies of amateurs who would gather in smoke-filled rooms to play it...Steger�s playing is unfailingly seductive; the English Concert under Cummings is equally delectable.� --The Sunday Times, 18th April 2010 ****

�Steger's performance is a thrilling hybrid, dazzlingly embellished yet pure and true of tone. The English Concert match Steger's �lan, with glorious solos from the ensemble.� --The Independent on Sunday, 11th April 2010

"Steger is a wonderfully deft player, with absolute clarity of note and line, even in the most virtuosic variations, of which there are many. Nonetheless, one of the most interesting pieces comes at the very end of the disc, when, after the torrents of notes in the seventh concerto, he plays the gentle variations by Jacques or James Paisible upon the Sarabande of the original sonata. This is a large-scaled ground-bass piece that increases in intensity as it goes along, without giving way to the flashy cascades that are a feature of most of the rest of the pieces. Steger�s tone is narrower than, say, Erik Bosgraf�s on his recent Handel disc, but it is not unpleasant for that. He is wonderfully backed by the English Concert. There is no direct competition for this program, but there are at least four recordings of all the op. 5 violin sonatas from which most of the material for these recorder versions comes. " --FANFARE: Alan Swanson