Customer Reviews

Handel - Water Musick / PBO, McGegan

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

 

 

I Love it, better than all other recording I Have heard before! I Highly Recomand
10 of 10 point it get from me
PS! This is the most correct version of the Work. I read some here like Pinnock better. That Version is good, but history tell that is not Händels version. He Composed also the variations too. This Is the version they played on the River. The Works World Premiere. Pinnock version not complete version of this WORK. Think again! Pinniock played this work as two suites, not three suites whith the variations that Händel wrote.

I wrote the two-star review above (below?). On rehearing it, I think that I might have been a bit too harsh. Certainly after all the palaver I'd heard I was expecting something special and I felt let down when I didn't get it. To my mind, there remains no doubt that Pinnock's old recording for Archiv remains clearly the best in the field, bar none. However, this recording, while lacking the bounce and exuberance of Pinnock, is nicely played. I think 3.5 stars is about correct, so, if I award it five stars now, my rating will average out to what I think is the correct one. But do yourself a favour and hear Pinnock before you buy this one!

I am a big fan of Handel orchestral music, and this is my favorite Water Music recording. In my opinion, some of the reviews posted here underrate this performance. McGegan does a great job of capturing Handel's inner rhythms, and at the reissue price this recording is a real bargain.

Don't be taken in by the palaver on the back of the CD box. This is a competent performance, but, in my opinion, dull, dull, dull. The best version remains Pinnock's wonderful late '80s version for DG Archiv which sparkles with life like no other I know.

...not as good as Trevor Pinnock's marvellous recording for DG Archiv. Although quite elderly now (it was my test disc when I went looking for my first CD player 15 years ago), its bounce and gaiety put it right at the top of the heap, as far as I'm concerned. This new one is nicely played, but to me it just doesn't have the joie de vivre of the Pinnock version.