Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner - Handel: Ballet Music (1972/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/48 kHz | Front Cover | Time - 45:56 minutes | 479 MB
Classical | Label: Decca Records, Official Digital Download
Handel wrote all this ballet music for operas, new or revived, in which Marie Salle was to dance while she was in London in the mid-1730s. She will not, of course, have graced all these pieces; she was famed for expressiveness rather than virtuosity, and presumably delegated the very quick and exciting dream music in Alcina to someone else. But slower pieces predominate and they show that Handel was fully appreciative of her charms. Gardiner uses a robust orchestra (6.6.4.4.2) which allows for a strong bass, appreciated by dancers today and no doubt then as well.