Customer Reviews

Handel - Concerti grossi, op. 6 / AAM · Manze

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Manze has outdone himself, as have the Academy of Ancient Music.

There is life, there is magic, there is some beautiful playing, there is everything you could possibly want in a recording of this wonderful score. Even if you forego period instruments, you should really try these guys out! Forget Orpheus's attempt, and please ignore the bizarre recommendation for I Musici de Montreal on Chandos (great sound and cold playing). This recording really puts all those to shame.

To top it all off, not only do you have wonderful music-making, but you also get intelligent and delightful notes that are humorous too.

A first-class production. Maybe the classical music recording industry isn't dead quite yet!

Like Corelli's Op 6 concerti, every lover of Baroque music must also have
have at least one recording of Handel's Op 6 in his collection. This version, played by the Academy of Ancient music, along with another performed by The English Consort are my two favorites.

This is a very energetic performance. Andrew Manze has uniformly chosen
brisk tempi through these concerti. Things are never too rushed, though. Clarity of expression and melodic lines always come out clearly, but I sometimes wonder why some movements are taken so quickly. Perhaps it might be to cut down track lengths? I hope that is not the case. At any rate, it's a small matter considering the energy and ornamentation the soloists put into parts, even striking double and triple stops at the end of exciting solo passages. The contrast between soloist and ensemble is nicely brought out in this recording. That all makes for an exciting listening experience, and sets this recording apart from others that might be considered as more formal and polished performances.

I chose the digital download option for this purchase and was very pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the process went. After the downloader was installed, the tracks came down extremely quickly. So fast, in fact, I paused the download to look in the folder and see if the tracks were really there! The entire two CD set was done in under two minutes.The results in 225 VRB sound really great.

My only concern about the digital download is that while track number information is put into the files so that the Windows Media Player sorts out the correct track order, the filenames themselves will not cause the files to organize correctly in folders, hence, also not on my MP3 player, which does not use the track number data in the file. I either have to create playlists, or rename the files with 01...,02..., headers. Maybe
I need another Mp3 player!

Digital or CD, This recording is well worth the purchase price. Just listen to the samples. You will know what you are getting.

I am a period instrument enthusiast; I'm not going to get into that discussion. All I know is that this is one of the first recordings of classical music I've bought and it's still my favorite in my collection. The playing is very exciting, the phrasing is meticulous and very audible to the listener. You can never go wrong with Harmonia Mundi for recording quality; the sound is really exquisite. I personally tend not to like the sound Andrew Manze gets out of his baroque violin; sometimes it sounds nasally and constrained. However, this CD is a nice exception. Generally, his playing sounds more like a normal violinist, without any of the covered sound I'm used to. The Academy of Ancient Music playing is pristinely clean, and pristinely in tune, especially on some of the slower movements in which intonation is more risky. My favorite movements are the rollicking 5th movement Allegro of the 5th concerto, the noble, poignant 1st movement Larghetto of the 2nd concerto, and the tuneful, catchy, dancing 4th movement Allegro of the 4th concerto. If you are a fan of high baroque music, particularly the baroque concerto grosso, these two discs will excite you day after day, month after month, year after year. Bravo AAM, Andrew Manze and Harmonia Mundi for another wonderful production!

The playing is admirable and beautiful(especially the outstanding stylish playing from Manze and his soloist), and the use of period instruments is wonderful. But this recording is slightly bland in some movements(certain movements could be taken faster)if you want a recording with more passion I would opt for either the version from the Orpheus CO on DG or the one's from Iona Brown on Hanssler or Philips(I have listening to these recordings thousands of times and I warmly recommend them with 5 stars)

Virtually every reviewer of this landmark performance has justifyably praised its sensitivity, power, precision, and brilliance. But it gives the listener far more, for like much of Mozart's instrumental music Handel's evokes opera in almost every bar in a way that throws off images of summer nights as backdrops to partings of lovers, battles, conspiracies and all the wonderous fol-de-rol of opera seria. Best of all the performances provides the psychological experience of Handlian theatre. One can praise this performance to the skies, but one cannot really grasp the wonder of this music as it is performed here unless one knows something of the operas.

I have devoured many recordings of the Op.6 as well as the Op.3 Concerti Grossi for the last 30 odd years. Marriner, Leppard, Hogwood, etc. (I don't count the Germans, apparently Handel eludes them). I thought I knew these works completely, like I know my wife's body. After hearing Andrew Manze's recreation of them it is as if the previous recordings had held back some divine secret that Manze finally reveals to the world. Treasures of unimaginable wealth are sprayed out like gemstone machine guns. Movements that I had previously thought, in my ignorance, to be somewhat longish, I now crave with an addicts lust. This recording, finally, hammers the coffin shut on all the other composers, the dabblers of the concerto grosso form. Yes, even the exalted noodler himself, Bach, is blown into the weeds. Handel's humanity, drama, sex, epiphanous grandeur and just plain a**-kicking compositional chops gush forth from Manze's 13 strings and two continuo players with an "INCOMPARABLE" dash, musicianship, élan, oh hell, they are as tight as a frog's bu** cheeks. And I mean that in a good way.

THIS CD IS JUST GREAT, BECAUSE THE MUSIC FLOWS LIKE A RIVER TO THE SEA, IN OTHER WORDS YOU BETCHA HEAR IT, DAMN GREAT!!
THE FIRST CD IS A "MUST" AND THE VIOLINS SOUND SO SMOOTH.... I CAN'T EXPLAIN THE FEELINGS YOU SHOULD TRY IT, AND OF COURSE BUY ONE 'CAUSE THIS CD IS 4EVER.