il Fogklio

Following in their series of Gramophone Award and BBC Music Magazine Award winning recordings, Gabrieli’s first Handel recording in over a decade is particularly special – recreating in painstaking detail the very first performance of L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, given in 1740, with additional instrumental repertoire including a Handel organ concerto and two concerti grossi. With a reputation as peerless Handelians, Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort & players bring meticulous research to every performance and recording project, and are joined on this disc by a stunning selection of soloists.

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.