“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.”

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Augusta interviews with John Clare at WBAA about her debut album. 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.”

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“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.”

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“[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.”

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“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.”

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