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"Augusta McKay Lodge...not only shreds but has a titanic sound. McKay Lodge plays with a rounded and beautiful tone, certainly, but she can also overwhelm with volume and raw power...she's worth a special trip to hear."
The intricate embellishments flow elegantly, cadenzas evolving seamlessly and unanimously phrased. The strings are beautifully contrasted in timbre, faithfully caught by the lifelike recording and nicely balanced with the harpsichord.
We last heard young Paris-based American violinist Augusta McKay Lodge on Naxos in splendid performances of works for unaccompanied Baroque violin by Biber, Locatelli, Pisendel, Matteis and Baltzar. Now she returns in the company of musical friends to shine a light on yet more unfamiliar music of the Baroque, this time violin sonatas by Corelli followers Giovanni Mossi (c.1680-1742) and Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli (1691-1772).
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Strings spoke to Baroque violinist Augusta McKay Lodge, who recently released Corelli’s Band: Violin Sonatas of Carbonelli, Corelli, Mossi (Naxos). The album features rare works by composers affiliated with Corelli and a world premiere recording.
“The continuo band is a powerhouse and provides strong support to Lodge, who is clearly emerging as one of the most eloquent and interesting Baroque violinists around.”
A delightful selection of Italian violin sonatas is brought to life by Augusta McKay Lodge and her fellow performers. The legacy of Arcangelo Corelli as both a player and a composer is fully on show in this album named in recognition of his influence.
McKay Lodge’s performance is begging you to listen to what the music has to say, to engage with the art of folks we might have forgotten. And if you don’t give it all the attention it’s due, you’re liable to feel a tiny bit guilty.
Lodge has a lithe, strikingly nuanced touch, a flair for the dramatic, a colorful vibrato but also a finely attuned sense of the music’s emotional context. And if you think that every worthwhile piece from the 18th century has already been recorded, guess again!
Both [Carbonelli and Mossi’s] works combine formal elegance with wild abandon, lyrical charm, and virtuosity alongside plenty of room for improvisation from acclaimed soloist Augusta McKay Lodge.
Both [Mossi and Carbonelli’s] works combine formal elegance with wild abandon, lyrical charm and virtuosity alongside plenty of room for improvisation -- a specialty for violinist and Baroque specialist Augusta McKay Lodge.
Augusta speaks with conductor and host of the Sticky Notes podcast, Joshua Weilerstein, to discuss the differences between modern and historical performances.
“Augusta Lodge is an important solo violinist, whose instrument often sings with a pure line. This kind of evenness is extremely difficult to achieve on her instrument. She can create not only mournful melodies, but also harsh angry sounds when needed.”
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“Voyage Sonique got a warm reception for its “Epilogues and Epitaphs” concert in the dank corridor on Monday night. The acoustics are very crisp, even at times a little harsh for an assertive musician like Lodge”
Jon Sobel interviews Augusta in preparation of Voyage Sonique’s Angel’s Share performance. Read the interview here.
“Though Bach's set of six Sonatas and Partitas represents the pinnacle of writing for the solo violin, the Baroque repertoire was rich in compositions for the unaccompanied violin, much of which remains little explored.”
WCLV’s Mark Satola speaks with Augusta to talk to her about Baroque music, her new CD ("Beyond Bach and Vivaldi"), and a Baroque violin that was made just four years ago. Listen to the interview here.
“Lodge’s special skill, in addition to her intonational and tonal felicities, is knowing when to stop and go — an inexpressible sense of pace and pause that focuses the listener’s attention on each piece’s most poignant moments.”
“McKay Lodge plays a modern replica by Jason Viseltear of a Baroque violin with a sweet tone and bright coloration, and the performances are lively and witty, with a rhythmic verve that elevates the pieces above mere exercises. While most of the selections are short and based on dance forms popular in the period, which Bach also used, perhaps Biber’s Passacaglia in G minor from the Rosary Sonatas anticipates Bach at his most profound in the famous Chaconne from the Partita in D minor. A delightful exploration of overlooked repertoire, this CD offers intimate sound and crisp details which Baroque enthusiasts will relish.”
“[With a] wide-ranging emotional expression… she offers some imaginative accounts, demonstrating much technical assurance, a varied expressive palette and due appreciation of national idioms…All played with substantial accuracy and musical perception, and commendable style.”
“The performance by Augusta Lodge is both resonant and powerful. She has a firm grasp of the style and yet manages to endow each performance with a distinctive personality. She is spot on technically, and I am impressed by the clear sound she can achieve in all registers on her instrument.” — Bertil van Boer
“Lodge is thoroughly schooled in Baroque style, has technique to spare, and is always willing to go beyond the printed page to bring the pieces imaginatively to life through timing, ornamentation, variety of attack, and more. Lodge plays them all with sure technical command and the album comes recommended to those with an interest in violin history.” — Michael De Sapio
“I was awestruck by how Lodge navigates Locatelli’s minefield of technical deathtraps as if she’s tripping through a garden of roses and singing as she goes. Never once is there the slightest coarseness to her tone or feeling of strain…She has studied with the best—among them, Monica Huggett—and played with the best—among them, Nicholas McGegan, William Christie, Ton Koopman, Les Arts Florissants, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, and Apollo’s Fire. But not even all of that can account for Lodge’s innate talent and extraordinary musicianship, which won her the Juilliard Historical Performance Concerto Competition for 2015.” — Jerry Dubins
“Dazzling as this criminally neglected repertoire may be (the Matteis Alia fantasia that opens the album is a must-listen), the true gem here is the bold, yet nuanced technique of Augusta McKay Lodge. Hers is a name to watch.”
“but it’s artists like Lodge who make the music sing and dance and sometimes really engage on a deeper interpretive level–where we listen more closely and hear the mysterious transformation of a single line into multiple parts, fleshed out harmonies, and sophisticated developmental features, articulate, assertive, seductive, lovely, elegant.”
Working with a Legend, the Path from Juilliard to Les Arts FLorissants, written by Augusta McKay Lodge
De Juilliard à Thiré : les jeunes talents chez William Christie (Interview with Cinzia Rota)
"Three players were worked especially hard and rose to the challenges beautifully: Augusta McKay Lodge, the concertmaster and main violin soloist..."
"...Augusta McKay Lodge, stands out as the real thing, a true virtuoso"
"The last movement, done at a record-setting pace, never sounded strained or forced...the splendid Augusta McKay Lodge has to be singled out as an exceptional violinist."