This is Water

Together with Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and then Ballard’s replacement, Cindy Birdsong, Diana Ross helped sculpt The Sound Of Young America. By 1967 she’d been singled out as the trio’s leader, despite the fact her vocal delivery was not the most soulful, powerful or even beautiful of the three. But with the batting of her heavily mascara-ed eyelashes and coy poise, Ross attracted the pop crowd and, more importantly at Motown, label boss Berry Gordy.

You might think that Handel's Water Music, HWV 348-350, arguably the most familiar piece of Baroque music (the Four Seasons of Vivaldi can give it a run for its money, but its popularity is more recent), has received every possible interpretation. And you would be wrong, as the musicians of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin have shown in this Harmonia Mundi release, precisely recorded in Berlin's Teldex studio. You get a steady parade of innovations here, marked overall by, but not in the least restricted to, blisteringly fast tempos that turn the horn-dominated movements into tests of virtuosity. Unexpected dynamic contrasts and the unusual rhythmic treatment of the "Overture" to the Suite No. 1 (sample track one) are other novelties, but this veteran group is not out for shock value. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin operate without a conductor, and their coordination in these crisp prestos is worth the price of admission in itself. Their ability to act as one in really unusual shapings of each individual movement is remarkable, and the treacherous horn parts are near perfection in the hands of Erwin Wieringa and Miroslav Rovenský.