Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Messiah was written with Handel's usual speed in 1741 for performance in Dublin, some of it rehearsed briefly by inadequate singers in Chester, as he made his way to Holyhead to embark for the voyage. The first performance was given at the New Music Hall in Fish-amble Street, Dublin, on 13th April, 1742, in aid of charity. The first London performance took place in Lent 1743 at Covent Garden, but the work failed to please, in part because of reservations that some held about the suitability of such a sacred subject for a theatre. Messiah only achieved it's lasting success after performances in 1750 in aid of the Foundling Hospital, established ten years earlier by Captain Thomas Coram. At his death in 1759 Handel left a fair copy of the score and all parts to the Hospital, an institution that continued to benefit from annual performances of the work. The Scholars Baroque Ensemble: The scholars Baroque Ensemble was founded in 1987 by David van Asch with the idea of complementing the "a-capella" work of the vocal ensemble The Scholars. This group, consisting also of the soprano Kym Amps, counter tenor Angus Davidson and tenor Robin Doveton, has had worldwide success during the last twenty years. The members of THE Scholars Baroque Ensemble are all specialists in the field of Baroque music and play original instruments (or copies) using contemporary techniques, singers and players work together without a director to produce their own versions of great masterpieces such as the St. John Passion by Bach, the 1610 Vespers by Monteverdi, Dido and Aeneas and The Fairy Queen by Purcell, the Messiah and Acis and Galatea by Handel, all of which are being released by Naxos. Concert performances by the ensemble have been highly praised by critics and audiences alike.

Handel's violin sonatas, familiar to violinists and chamber audiences, have been inexplicably neglected on disc. These intimate, inviting sonatas show the seldom-heard side of Handel's genius.

"Violinist Rachel Barton triumphs in her first release for the Cedille label… Indeed, Rachel Barton's wonderfully vital Handel performances bring us some of the most refreshing, life-enhancing Baroque playing heard in years." -- Chicago Tribune

"[Rachel Barton] is one of the rare mainstream performers with a total grasp of Baroque style and embellishment, and the whole disc is a delight… The exhilarating bravura of her incisive articulation and sharply pointed rhythms is matched by Barton's singing line in her poised and elegant lyrical movements. Superb continuo players David Schrader and John Mark Rozendaal contribute to the real sense of ensemble teamwork." -- Fanfare

"Few non-specialists have gotten inside this procedure [of ornamentation] as convincingly as violinist Rachel Barton. Her playing is splendid on all levels - lovely tone, wonderfully expressive phrasing, secure technique, and strong involvement with the music. But the most unusual aspect of Barton's Handel is the convincing and imaginative way she embellishes the repeats in the music - adding runs, ornaments, and flourishes that give a different aspect to a phrase we've just recently heard… They help to enliven a cherishable disc." -- Classical Pulse

"A spritely partnership between violin and cello, with deft rhythmic accompaniment on harpsichord… The music's virtuosic character is rendered with superb, resonant double and triple stopping and de-emphasized dance motion in the allegros. Barton lets the music's raw, improvised feeling hang out a little, giving the recording a refreshing zest." -- Classical Net

"[Rachel Barton] uses a baroque bow with her modernized 17th-Century violin, making a wonderfully warm yet still focused sound, and her passage work is brilliant yet lyrical - much like the cascades of a coloratura - and her ornamentation is both thoughtful and virtuosic. This is a wonderful recording." -- American Record Guide

Classical Music

With forty or so complete recordings and countless discs of highlights, a Japanese performance of this most beloved of English choral works may seem an unlikely contender. Yet the Bach Collegium Japan has already established itself as one of the most interesting period ensembles specialising in Baroque music, and this account has much to recommend it, not least Suzuki’s obvious affection for the piece. The sound is warm and detailed, though occasionally the voices are swamped by the orchestra; tempi are thoughtfully judged and the fresh-voiced choir sings with remarkable clarity and impeccable diction. Suzuki has chosen two very young Japanese soloists for the soprano and countertenor parts, alongside two highly experienced English singers for the tenor and bass. Soprano Midori Suzuki has a light, boyish voice, not without imperfection but affectingly naive; countertenor Yoshikazu Mera has an innocent, tender alto range that belies a surprisingly powerful lower register; tenor John Elwes is agile, lyrical, perfectly focused; and David Thomas makes an imposing, if somewhat stentorian, bass. By pitting innocence against experience, Suzuki has achieved a particularly moving account.

-- Kate Bolton, BBC Music Magazine

Dance Instruction.

This recording was formerly available as Vox-Unique V2U 9000.

This almost unknown, large scale (almost 3 hour) oratorio, The Triumph of Time and Truth, was composed by Handel in Rome in 1707 and revised by him for performances in London’s Covent Garden in 1737 (the version recorded here) and then translated into English, revised again and presented, with new additions, in 1757. The performance recorded here contains, probably, everything Handel composed for this work in its various incarnations, and then some: A brief organ concerto by the composer is added to the second part’s introduction and another pops up before the final chorus; a number from the serenata Acis & Galatea is inserted at one point; and a Saraband for two harpsichords from Handel’s Almira is used as an interlude in Part III. Furthermore, some will recognize the beautiful aria from the original, “Lascia la spina,” which became “Lascia ch’io piango” in Rinaldo, set to another text and very different music.

All that aside, this windy work, in which four characters (here, two sopranos and two male altos) stand for Beauty, Pleasure, Time and Disillusion and duke it out until each characteristic opts to serve a better, higher cause, is definitely worth hearing. It contains the appealing, straighforwardly Baroque (if there is such a thing) style of Handel’s early Italian cantatas, mixed with his later sophisticated choral writing and dramatic recitatives. The singers have plenty to do. Both sopranos–Beauty and Pleasure, who sound uncomfortably alike and therefore cut somewhat into the drama–are excellent, with particular kudos going to Claron McFaddon’s Beauty for her lovely trills (especially in #29, with continuo), and both male altos are agile, involved, and just a bit weak in their lower registers.

The chorus, which is very big and appears to have been recorded from a far greater distance than the soloists, is splendid, as is the orchestra under Joachim Carlos Martini’s leadership. The resonant acoustic makes the soloists sound a bit lonely, but otherwise, no complaints. This remains the only recording of the 1737 omnibus version of the work, and Handel lovers should flock to it.

– ClassicsToday (Robert Levine)

HANDEL: Harpsichord Suites Nos. 1- 5

Includes work(s) by George Frideric Handel.

HANDEL: Oboe Concertos Nos. 1- 3 / Suite in G Minor

The harpsichord used in this collection is a modern instrument designed by the American David Way and it incorporates features of many French 18th century harpsichords.

I am indebted to Alan Cuckston for playing this repertoire in a 'straight' way. Too many players are so bogged down by fruitless attempts to produce 'authentic performances' that they miss the spirit of the music. Their playing is therefore inhibited and has three main annoying quirks at least. Firstly, they make far too much of ornamentation so that the essential mordents, trills and shakes are given such a dramatic exaggeration that they stand out like angry spots upon a blemished face. Mr Cuckston's ornamentation is beautifully incorporated into the natural flair of the music. Secondly, some players are afraid of lively speeds for the quicker movements ... I suspect it is because they do not have the requisite finger technique ... and so the music does not come to life. But, in these performances, it does. Thirdly, some players indulge in grinding rallentandos and, to make matters worse, hang on to cadences for an inordinate length of time so that if a cadence is crotchet, crotchet rest and crotchet at say allegro, which should take just over one second, it can take more than five times as long and has the nauseating aural effect like unto some servile servant apologising to his master, and most profusely, while backing out of his presence.

Mr Cuckston does observe some rallentandos but there is not this excess, this ghastly self-indulgence and musical fetishes!

But here Handel comes alive and surely all music should be both vibrant and alive. Players can kill music for reasons I have already mentioned and no corpse is ever pleasant and it certainly cannot communicate.

The energy and reliability of these performances are exemplary. The F sharp Suite is beset with all sorts of problems but they are not revealed here. The F minor Suite has splendid fugue and, as I have said before, couldn't Handel write a good fugue untrammelled by academia which sometimes the fugues of the great J.S. Bach may be.

The shorter pieces are a delight particularly the Capriccio and more so when it is played with such panache as this. The Air and Variations were the subject of Brahms's great Variations on a Theme of Handel (do investigate the brilliant recording by Peter Katin on Athene (ATH CD 9)).

A thoroughly enjoyable disc beautifully played and well-recorded. And all players of Handel should note. Play Handel like this and you and your audiences will reap deserved awards.

-- David Wright, MusicWeb International