Sweet James Martin

American ensemble, Banchetto Musicale, under the direction of Martin Pearlman, recorded Handel's ''Allegro, Il Penseroso, ed il Moderato,'' (Arabesque 6554-2, two LP's) set to two poems by the young John Milton with a third, markedly less distinguished, text by Charles Jennens rounding out the work. Banchetto Musicale is a Boston-based group that plays early music on original instruments. Their playing is stylish, if occasionally a little too self-consciously ''correct'' and considered for this taste; the Puritan spirit dies hard. The recording is distinguished by the contributions of some bright young soloists - the sopranos Nancy Armstrong and Sharon Baker, the mezzo-soprano Mary Westbrook-Geha, the tenor Frank Kelley and the baritone James Maddalena; Mr. Pearlman has provided succinct, intelligent notes.

A profoundly modern dimension emerges from this confrontation between English works from the 17th century (Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke) and works from the 20th and 21st centuries (Philippe Hersant, Franck Martin, Thierry Pécou). Coming from highly different musical universes, each composition is, however, largely inspired by the founding themes of Shakespeares play, sometimes taking up excerpts from it. The text is recited in English, or rather Shakespeares Old English, as are all the sung parts, in order to reproduce the strong, sweet accent of that tongue.