Sir Charles Mackerras was one of the pioneers of the "authentic instrument" movement, not because he particularly cared about the instruments themselves, but because as early as the mid '60s he had acquired a thorough knowledge of 18th-century performance practice. He puts that knowledge to excellent use in these performances, where musicological awareness informs everything he does, but never overwhelms his own spontaneous musicality. Great playing, and great sound too. --David Hurwitz