Excepting those albums featuring the magisterial works by Bach and Telemann, there are relatively few recordings that more broadly celebrate the art of Baroque music for unaccompanied solo violin. It was thus natural, upon being asked to review this thrilling new release by the German violinist Isabelle Faust, that Guardian Angel, Rachel Podger’s album released some 10 years ago, sprang immediately to mind.

Faust and Podger are very different musicians, to be sure, with the former’s repertoire embracing the music of contemporary composers such as György Kurtág and Ondřej Adámek and the latter’s tending to focus on early music. Where they cross over is in historically informed performances of Bach, Mozart et al. Indeed, their respective recordings of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin are among the finest in the catalogue.

There is some crossover between Guardian Angel and Faust’s Solo, as well, with the artists intersecting at three points: Biber’s Passacaglia in G minor, Guardian Angel, from his Rosary Sonatas