Händel Sarabande in D

Jory Vinikour, one of the outstanding harpsichordists of his generation, celebrates the Handel year with a wonderful new recording of Handel s 'Great' Suites, topped off with a special version of the famous Chaconne in G Major. Jory's Handel is unquestionably as 'definitive' as his celebrated version of the Bach Goldberg Variations. Thenobility, tenderness and delightful variety of each Suite speaks of Jory's musical perspective not only as a virtuoso, but also as a conductor, opera continuist and joint recitalist in the course of his highly diversified career. The warm sound of this new Handel recording can be attributed to the instrument Jory plays, which is based on the 1739 Dresden harpsichord built by Heinrich Gräbner, with its extended basses and corresponding richness of timbre.

SEON (Studio Erichson) is a period music label by the legendary producer Wolf Erichson. Erichson founded the label in 1969 as one of the first labels dedicated only to authentic music. The recordings were made with the best available recording techniques of the time and still deliver a high quality product in line with today's standards. This special boxset offers all SEON CD reissues from the late 90s on 85 CDs in a limited edition boxset.

“[These suites] have rarely been recorded or promoted by harpsichordists during the most recent revival of interest in ‘early music.’” I realize that Richard Egarr is entitled to his own opinions—his liner notes on an earlier release, for example, likened the humor in Purcell’s harpsichord music to that of the wonderful old 1950s BBC comedy The Goon Show —but he’s not entitled to his own facts. Christopher Brodersen pointed out in a 2011 review of these works featuring Laurence Cummings ( Fanfare 34:5) that ArkivMusic listed nine complete sets played on the harpsichord, with several others on the piano. I find some of the suites have considerably more recordings than that, in 2014: 26 for the Suite in A Major, 28 for the Suite in D Minor, 25 for the Suite in E Minor, 47 for the Suite in E Major. If such numbers reflect rare recordings, I have to wonder what Egarr would consider a moderate number, let alone a frequent one.

There is no shortage of recordings of this, Handel’s most popular orchestral work. It has been proffered in renditions with ensembles large and small, and warmly embraced by both period- and modern-instrument enthusiasts. There are even recordings of excerpts arranged early in the 20th century for “modern” symphony orchestra by the eminent Irish conductor and composer Sir Hamilton Harty. It was in this last incarnation that most of us baby boomers first encountered Handel’s marvelous creation. One of the interesting points found on this release comes in scans 11 and 12. They are the original versions—pitched in the key of F—of two movements usually performed as part of the sequence of pieces in D. Mackerras includes both the original and revised movements in their appropriate spots. I prefer Handel’s originals, as they bring down the curtain on the set of pieces in F with more of a feeling of finality than the D-Minor movement that usually rounds out the suite…
– Michael Carter, Fanfare

With the exception of the final Chaconne of the second set, these discs contain the two sets of suites of 1720 and 1733 which are Handel’s most important keyboard music. It is an impressive achievement, with stylish harpsichord playing and a real sense of the energy and originality of these works. Repeats are taken, mostly with sensible ornamentation which never strays into tastelessness or exaggeration, and notes inégales are introduced in small amounts, especially in the allemandes, and with commendable moderation – a good thing, since we have little evidence about the extent to which Handel was influenced by this practice.

Handel and Scarlatti together? Long ago, in Rome (for a musical joust before the most eminent cardinals), in Venice (at a masked ball where Scarlatti recognised the faceless harpsichordist: “It could be no one but the famous Saxon, or the devil”), in London (where an opera by Scarlatti was staged). Together again under the pen of Charles Burney, who celebrated them as the two supreme masters of the harpsichord, the ‘heavenly twins’. And together once more in the little church in Haarlem to which Pierre Hantaï returns like a pilgrim.

ECM New Series debut for the exceptional Russian-born pianist Lisa Smirnova, playing Handel’s Eight Great Suites (1720), also known as “The Eight London Suites” or “Suites de Pièces pour le Clavecin” – by any name, major pieces in the keyboard literature. Outstanding artists from Glenn Gould to Keith Jarrett have been drawn to these suites, but there are very few recordings of all eight, either on piano or harpsichord, currently on the market. Smirnova opts for the modern piano. She had been working rigorously on the Suites for five years prior to undertaking this recording, making many discoveries.

Handel’s solo keyboard music has for too long been overshadowed by his operas, oratorios, and orchestral music. This comparative neglect seems unjust in view of the considerably large quantity of keyboard music which exists amongst his massive output. This third double CD set completes Gilbert Rowland’s survey of these groundbreaking works which began to free the form from the formal constraints of “Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue”. Gilbert Rowland first studied the harpsichord with Millicent Silver. Whilst still a student at the Royal College of Music, he made his debut at Fenton House 1970 and first appeared at the Wigmore Hall in 1973.

All of Trevor Pinnocks unmissable Handel orchestral recordings with the English Concert on period instruments, collected for the first time in a single release: Classic recordings of Op. 3 and Op. 6; A must-have for anyone remotely interested in Handel.