14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Odd assortment ranging from Excellent to Poor, January 2, 2010
This review is from: Handel: The Masterworks (Box Set) (Audio CD)
This item can still be purchased in some venues for around $40 and worth much more than that for the better items included.
Excellent items include:
* JEPHTHA conducted by Marcus Creed
* NINE GERMAN ARIAS sung by Arlene Auger
* Six ITALIAN CANTATAS over two discs sung by Maria Zadori
* ORGAN CONCERTO, Op. 7 #1 with Rien Voskuilen and the Dutch Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Willcocks
* SIX CONCERTI GROSSI, OP. 3 with the ASMF conducted by Iona Brown
* TWELVE CONCERTI GROSSI, OP. 6 with the ASMF conducted by Iona Brown
* Six discs containing all of the canonical CHAMBER WORKS performed by L'Ecole d'Orphee.
--- All of these are performed on historical instruments except for the two sets of concerti grossi. Although I am a long-time proponent of HIP, I see no point in discarding performances as sensitive and well-played as these simply because they use modern instruments. I would rank these performances of Opus 6 alongside Raymond Leppard's (also using modern instruments) and the incomplete set recorded by William Christie among the best ever recorded. I ordinarily rank Pinnock very highly in music of this kind, but his traversal of Opus 6 sounds wiry and dutiful next to any of those I already mentioned. Likewise, although the articulation in Manze's performance is phenomenal, much of the time he merely sounds hectic, with little room for grandeur and dance movements that court epilepsy.
First class Handel in very good performances:
* MESSIAH conducted by Stephen Cleobury
* WATER MUSIC & ROYAL FIREWORKS MUSIC with the ASMF conducted by Neville Marriner
* The three CONCERTI A DUE CHORI with the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum conduced by Max Pommer
---In a less crowded field, these would be more competitive. The Pommer performances, in particular, are very nicely done, but this is one of the shortest discs in the set.
Fine performances of less-stellar Handel works:
* BROCKES PASSION conducted by Nicholas McGegan
* ST JOHN PASSION (spurious?) conducted by Pal Nemeth
--Very well-performed performances of second (or third) tier Handel. Even in his lesser works, however, Handel (and whoever really composed the ST JOHN PASSION) wrote some wonderfully expressive music. You may not return to these often, but you will return.
Enjoyable but by no means great recordings:
* RINALDO with Marilyn Horne, et al. conducted by John Fisher. Abridged, with a variable cast and assorted stage noises, but enjoyable nonetheless, and worth having for Horne's performance of the title role.
* IMENEO conducted by Rudolph Palmer.
* FARAMONDO conducted by Rudolph Palmer. Both of these John Ostendorf productions are abridged, play fast-and-loose with Handel's vocal casting, move arias about, and have less than stellar playing from the Brewer Chamber Orchestra; nonetheless each also contains a lot of fine music and the singing is usually expressive and done very well.
* ORGAN CONCERTI, Opp. 4 & 7, plus the F Major concerto "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale" with Ivan Sokol and the Slovak Chamber Orchestra conducted by Bohdan Warchal. Not the last word in authenticity or finesse, but if you already have these played by your favorite HIP organist and ensemble, these present a very pleasant supplement, with imaginative (if sometimes a trifle anachronistic) interpolations.
Disappointing performances/recordings with supplementary value:
* ACIS AND GALATEA conducted by Valentin Radu. Fortunately, Julianne Baird's portions are good, and for those who already have versions by Robert King and others who use the Cannons version of the work, it is worthwhile to have the later choral version of "Happy We".
* CORONATION ANTHEMS conducted by David Willcocks. Unfortunately, these are not the excellent Decca recordings with King's College but a later Dutch performance in an echoey venue that has its moments, but is ultimately frustrating. Fortunately, the appended Op. 7 # 1 ORGAN CONCERTO is nicely done (see above), with a lot of interesting interpolations by the organist. These could have squeezed onto fewer discs!
Poor:
* BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST sung in German, conducted by Dietrich Knothe, though Peter Schreier's Belshazzar manages, at times, to rise above the rest of the stodgy performance.
Summary - Many excellent to very good performances of first-rate and lesser Handel, along with less great, if enjoyable performances of other works, and a few duds. Performers and individual movements are listed on each sleeve, but it is pity that there are no texts or translations for many vocal works included.
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