Customer Reviews

Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks

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

 

 

When it comes to George Frederic Handel's music, both orchestral and operatic, the words that best describe the tone and overall impression of the music are elegant, regal, grand and sublimely beautiful. Handel's music was very popular, sometimes I feel much more so than the rigid music of Bach, which was far more complex and less "relaxing" than Handel's. The leisurely, beautiful and grand style of his Water Music is in fact what he is most known for. This is music fit for European royalty as it was indeed first performed for the King of England's boat ride on the Thames river. This is now reduced to elevator music or Muzak in five-star hotels and restaurants, or even cellular phone ringtones. The Water Music on this recording sounds absolutely brilliant, with no sterile moments or broad, boring tempi. The perfection of this particular recording is to be commended. Sir John Elliot Gardner and his English Baroque Soloists know the music like the palm of their hands. Maybe it's because he feels the music is, in part, English in spirit, since Handel spent most of his career in London, though he was born in Germany. Gardener is actually slower in his tempi when compared to other works he conducts, particularly in operas. His specialty is Baroque and it shows in this recording.

The Suites are all played with finesse, with chamber-like elegance and with no riotous frenzy or fast pacing. It is a slow ride down the Thames. We are seduced by the sounds of flutes, violin strings, and trumpet. The famous Trumpet Suite has never sounded better than in this recording. The Minuets and Bourres are all masterfully performed and the English Baroque Soloists let us hear every detail of the music. There are still other fine versions out there, but few outshine this one. A second choice would be Sir John Neville Marriner conducting the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields. Or perhaps an Orchestra that specializes in period instruments and in the Baroque repertoire. If you love more of this type of music by Handel, I also recommend his 12 Concerto Grossi. Bach's Brandenburg Concerti certainly exceed the Water Music in beauty and in musical mastership but the Water Music continues to be a popular work featured in Classical Music radio, television, movies and even movie theater bathrooms!

These two recordings seem to be both lauded and hated, but I for one love them. The balance of the ensemble is great, bringing out all the wonderful colors that Handel could do better than any other Baroque composer (discounting Monteverdi 125 years beforehand).

While simple at times, Water Music is a great collection of wonderful, tuneful music. Gardiner often takes this music at what one might call breakneck speed, but it works. Addtionally, he adds a couple "varients" as a bonus, which are really just a couple of the movements played in a different key -- nice to have.

The Royal Fireworks music was in fact originally without strings -- here it's played in the string version. Here too the tempos are on the fast side, especially in the final movement. And once again, it works great.

One thing to note about this recording is that, as with many HIP Baroque performances, the instruments are tuned lower. So if one compares it with a modern instument recording, it will sound lower. For this music especially this seems to work well -- the higher tone seems brighter (it's a physics thing that I can't get into here) and this music needs the more open tone that the larger (relative) intervals give with the lower tuning.

So I can easily recommend this disk to anyone who enjoys this music, and likes/doesn't mind HIP. If you need modern instruments, stay away, but otherwise this is a great addition to anyone's collection.

The combination of the Water Music as well as the Royal Fireworks on the same cd, makes this WELL worth the price. The interpretation of both these works is unsurpassed. Of course all recorded on period instruments! GET THIS CD. You will not be sorry.

This recording is everything one could want in a performance of the Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks: genteel yet exciting, allowing the dance rhythms to dance but not getting out of control, well-paced, neither too fast nor too slow. Gardiner and his band also do seem very "at home" with this music; as another commenter has suggested, it may be they experience a certain Englishness in Handel and find it congenial. Whatever the reason, the playing is superb (I love the horns in the F-major Water Music suite), the interpretations are spot-on, and the whole experience is quite enjoyable. Highly recommended.

This recording, featuring John Eliot Gardiner conducting the English Baroque Soloists, is in my opinion, the best available version of Handel's Water Music. Though I greatly admire the stately grandeur of Marriner's version with The Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields (also available on Amazon: ASIN: B0000040Y4), I find Gardiner's rollicking, improvising vision more compelling by far.

There is life in the music of this recording. The playing is precise without being sterile. The pieces move and breathe and surprise. Gardiner's chosen order of the Suites makes a great deal of sense. The finale in particular is a thing of true emotional resonance.

Philips' new repackaging (For their "50" series) with Gardiner's earlier recording of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks adds a lot more value for less money than either recording once cost on its own. This is a real bargain.

At this ridiculously low price, I give this excellent recording a wholehearted recommendation.

I have heard and played several different arrangements of Handel's Water Music and Royal Fireworks, but none do justice to the original music. John Elliot Gardiner is known for his authentic interpretations of baroque music because he uses period instruments. What makes this version stand out is the exquisite phrasing and dynamic constrast used in the different musical phrases. The music demands the listener's attention because of the fine way the dynamic contrasts are brought out in the music. This professional presentation encourages the listener's engagement of the music through the way the melodies and harmonies intermingle.

This album offers a delectable dose of that conversational, sensuous, intimate atmosphere that I find so seductive about Händel. The music is at turns exuberantly vivacious and achingly poignant. It always speaks at close range. Even the glorification of power in the first suite of the fireworks is not the heavy abstract power of the modern era, but something more tactile, personable, charismatic. Gardiner's precise touch goes well with this music. It all reminds me of an evening of light banter at some garden party out of a Chekhov play--intricate, ambiguous, densely pleasurable.

If you like Handel, (and I do). You will definitely like this CD.