"This recording is a must for baroque music-lovers. These sonatas are simply exquisite examples of refined Venetian music. Benedetto Marcello was as well known in his day as his now more famous contemporary, Antonio Vivaldi, if antything this recording should set the record straight and give us an opportunity to appreciate this wonderful composer. There are more surprises and unexpected turns in his compositions than the more classical Vivaldi sonatas, the difference being Marcello did not have to please the general public, he was considered an amateur composer, and as a member of the Venetian aristocracy, he had the advantage of abiding strictly by his own rules. There is great freedom of invention here, as well as a more substantial sensuality to this music, and one can easily imagine these sonatas having a receptive audience in the most select Venetian palazzi as well as the salons of its most cultivated courtesans."