Handel: Water Music [Import]

George Frideric Handel (Artist), Trevor Pinnock (Artist), Simon Standage (Artist), Elizabeth Wilcock (Artist), The English Concert (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Archiv Prod Import
• ASIN: B000001G4Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,029 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Businesslike?, May 12, 2002

By 

John N. Greendyk (Vernon, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handel: Water Music (Audio CD)

I haven't a clue what the Amazon editorial reviewer means. What I do know is that of the many recordings I have heard of this piece, this one is unquestionably my favorite. Trevor Pinnock is brilliant with music of this period; here, his Water Music is light and alive, yet stately and majestic too!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Technically Perfect, but as an Interpretation a Little Lack-Lustre, February 1, 2008

By 

Leslie Richford (Selsingen, Lower Saxony) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handel: Water Music (Audio CD)

George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Water Music (HWV 348 - 350). Performed by Simon Standage and Elizabeth Wilcock, solo violins, and the English Concert, directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock. Recorded at the Henry Wood Hall, London, England in 1983. Released in 1983 on LP, cassette and CD (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv 410 525-2). Total playing time ca. 54 minutes.

Anyone comparing different recordings of Handel's "Water Musick" will soon realize that there are obviously quite large differences between the versions played. The autograph of "Water Musick" is no longer extant, and the work was not published in complete form during Handel's lifetime. It appears that there may have been three or more different occasions between about 1715 and 1725 when Handel was asked to produce open-air music for royal entertainment during a boat-trip down the Thames. Handel probably wrote a number of individual pieces for these occasions which were only later combined into suites. Trevor Pinnock has opted here for the more traditional variant of two suites, one in F major and one a mix of D major and G major, the pieces being more or less in the order as published by Chrysander in the 19th century. Most newer recordings from the historically-informed school prefer to divide the whole into three clearly defined suites, although they are not always agreed on the order of the individual pieces.

Deutsche Grammophon's engineering is, as usual, absolutely top class, giving the listener the opportunity to hear all the detail, each instrument being very clearly defined. That, however, is only an advantage where the playing is really inspired, and I'm afraid that, particularly in the opening F major suite, this is not always the case. Everything is technically perfect, yes, of course, but somehow the music seems not to have inspired the musicians, at least not all of them, to put life and soul into it. Handel's music is always beautiful, and I don't deny that Pinnock's recording is, in many respects, one of the best. But for the first time since the English Concert joined DG, they produced here a disc which didn't make me want to listen again and again.

Is it just that familiarity breeds contempt? Not so if one listens in to what some of the HIPP competition have been producing. Of the older period-instrument groups, it is the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood whose version I prefer (Handel: The Water Music), but things begin to get really interesting with the newer generation. In San Francisco, of all places, an absolutely superb recording was produced in 1988/89 for Harmonia Mundi by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan (Handel: Water Music). In a direct comparison with the Pinnock version, it is really striking how much more interpretative power the McGegan recording evolves. And the HM engineering is every bit as good as the DG, so that as the McGegan Californian effort is now available at budget price, there is really no choice.

For those who know the "Water Musick" really well and perhaps already have the McGegan interpretation, there is another European recording that is worth investigating. Made in 1995 by the Belgian orchestra Il Fondamento, led by oboist Paul Dombrecht, for the tiny Passacaille label, this is a CD which can take your breath away. The woodwinds, in particular (hardly surprising, perhaps, seeing Dombrecht is an oboist), can almost knock you over. The tempi are fast, but not over-hurried, and there is a wealth of good ideas here which, occasionally at least, even make the McGegan interpretation sound old-fashioned. If you are really into the "Water Musicke", you won't regret listening to this.

As for the Pinnock/English Concert version, it remains a document of the slightly more staid English approach and of Deutsche Grammophon's excellent recording technique, and in 1983 it may have been revelatory. But in the first decade of the 21st century, it lacks the interpretatory lustre needed to assert itself amongst such strong competition.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TWEAKING THE WATERS, August 30, 2006

By 

Melvyn M. Sobel "Melvyn M. Sobel" (Freeport, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handel: Water Music (Audio CD)

With The English Concert at the ready, Pinnock's Handel is continuously stimulating, and hardly less than persuasive. Regal, ebullient and melancholy, in turns, his performance elucidates as well as entertains. Doubtless, much thought went into Pinnock's innumerable fascinating directorial decisions and musical interrelationships. Quite impressive in particular is his attention to baroque authenticity and detail, with riveting emphasis on the clarity and positioning of period instruments. The striking use of antiphonal brass, the affectionate counterpoint between woodwinds and strings, and the ongoing concertante intimacy is thoroughly beguiling. Remarkable also is the truly exceptional sound world given Pinnock's captivating interpretation and, of course, the superlatively inspired playing of The English Concert.

[Running time: 54:15]