Harpsichord Suites

Handel (Artist), Colin Tilney (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 5, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000E4CG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,858 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1973 Recordings at the Cutting Edge of the Early Music movement, January 28, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Harpsichord Suites (Audio CD)

George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): The Harpsichord Suites. Performed by Colin Tilney on two historical German harpsichords (Fleischer, 1710, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin, and Zell, 1728, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg). Recorded at the Lankwitz Studio, Berlin in November 1973 and at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg-Harburg in December 1973. Originally released on LPs. Digitally re-mastered version on CD released in 1991 as Deutsche Grammophon Archiv Galleria 427 170-2 (2 CD set). Total playing time: 118 minutes.

Together with Kenneth Gilbert's recording of the complete harpsichord works of Jean-Philippe Rameau, this set of Handel's six suites (published in 1720) by Colin Tilney belonged to the very first CDs I bought, heard and loved after purchasing my first Philips CD player some 17 years ago. But even today I can come back and enjoy listening to this remarkable set which, in a sense, defines, for me at any rate, how harpsichord playing ought to sound. The remastered analogue recordings by Dr. Andreas Holschneider and Heinz Wildhagen are absolutely exemplary. The historical harpsichords are lovingly pictured and described in the booklet and are both recorded with absolute clarity and attention to detail, giving the listener the feeling of sitting right next to Colin Tilney as he plays these stunningly beautiful suites with their gorgeous variety of melodies, fugues, variations etc (and not to forget the "Harmonious Blacksmith" air which is part of Suite No. 5 on Disc 1). These discs were no doubt unique at the time they were made (over 34 years ago), and, for me, they still breathe that pioneering atmosphere of the first forays into early music played on historical instruments. Unfortunately, they have been allowed to disappear from the catalogue in recent years, but if you can obtain a second-hand copy, you will not be disappointed!