Handel, Concerti Grossi, esp. Op. 6

Started by Xenophanes, June 17, 2011, 07:36:46 PM

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Xenophanes

For some strange reason, I have never acquired a recording of Op. 6. I recently got Op. 3 with Creswick on Naxos, which is OK, but Op. 6 is supposed to be greater.  What are the recordings to consider?

Mandryka

Scherchen for depth; Harnoncourt for excitement.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Que

Interesting topic, since I "need" a new good Concerti Grossi recording as well! :)

I browsed around and saw some exciting contenders: Academy of Ancient Music/ Manze (HM), Avison Ensemble/ Beznosiuk (Linn), Arte Dei Suonatori/ Martin Gester (BIS) and Il Giardino Armonico/ Antonini (Decca). Or the "Golden Oldie" Hogwood with the Handel and Haydn Society?

So I'm joining Xenophanes in his request. :) Meanwhile I'll be sampling away. 8)

Q

DieNacht

#3
Some other bets: I have the Max Pommer and the old Marriner/decca sets + some with Karl Richter. Also had the complete Karajan and 1 LP with Scherchen. I might have other views on Karajan/Scherchen now, but found K´s recording too linear, and S´s was rather "normal" in its tempi (except on one occasion), which I hadn´t expected. But decided to settle with these two, especially loving Pommer, where there is a wonderfully light, spherical and yet very singing tone throughout the 3 CDs. It´s the closest that comes to a "historically correct" performance among these, but as said it does not have the "just-lots-of-running-scales-going-on-and-on" that can sometimes make such recordings annoying IMO; on the contrary.

Marriner did a lot of really great Baroque concerto recordings in the good old ARGO days, especially as regards Vivaldi (L´Estro Armonico, especially) and his Händel is allright, quite sweet and "Italian", but admittedly hasn´t caught my attention that much.

Harnoncourt would be interesting to hear, I don´t know it.

Under all circumstances avoid the Rolla /Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra issue. It is totally boring and uninspired, as practically all of their Baroque issues.

mjwal

#4
I agree about the Pommer which helped me to begin to understand the greatness of Op.6 - I also have the early Marriner/ASMF LPs, which never enthused me. I would like to hear the Scherchen - I have just noticed there are some of the concerti on YouTube. I love Scherchen's Messiah and what I know of his Bach.
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

DavidW

For those that like PI recordings, the Manze/AAM is magnificent!  It is deep, lyrical reading while offering the clarity and rhythmic complexity that the best HIPsters are known for. :)

My favorite MI recording is done by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which is lean and driven. :)

[asin]B00000C2A4[/asin] [asin]B00006IQFK[/asin]

SonicMan46

Well, you'll be getting a LOT of choices (these have been well recorded works over the decades!) making the decision more difficult -  :)

The two sets that I own (already mentioned several times) are shown below:

 

Coopmv

Quote from: ~ Que ~ on June 17, 2011, 10:53:06 PM
Interesting topic, since I "need" a new good Concerti Grossi recording as well! :)

I browsed around and saw some exciting contenders: Academy of Ancient Music/ Manze (HM), Avison Ensemble/ Beznosiuk (Linn), Arte Dei Suonatori/ Martin Gester (BIS) and Il Giardino Armonico/ Antonini (Decca). Or the "Golden Oldie" Hogwood with the Handel and Haydn Society?

So I'm joining Xenophanes in his request. :) Meanwhile I'll be sampling away. 8)

Q

I think the best of the lots may be the twenty-five year old recordings by the English Concert for sheer virtuosity and melodic flows with Trevor Pinnock conducting from the harpsichord.  I have every version you listed except the version by Il Giardino Armonico/ Antonini, as I am still not convinced an Italian ensemble can perform German or English baroque works to a level that is satisfactory to me - English and German baroque are not exactly Vivaldi or Corelli.  While the English Concert version may not have the most modern sound, it is actually quite good.  I bought the set as 3 individual CD's but the entire work is now available in a 5-CD box by the English Concert IIRC ...

Xenophanes

Quote from: Coopmv on June 18, 2011, 10:23:06 AM
I think the best of the lots may be the twenty-five year old recordings by the English Concert for sheer virtuosity and melodic flows with Trevor Pinnock conducting from the harpsichord.  I have every version you listed except the version by Il Giardino Armonico/ Antonini, as I am still not convinced an Italian ensemble can perform German or English baroque works to a level that is satisfactory to me - English and German baroque are not exactly Vivaldi or Corelli.  While the English Concert version may not have the most modern sound, it is actually quite good.  I bought the set as 3 individual CD's but the entire work is now available in a 5-CD box by the English Concert IIRC ...

I like Pinnock's Brandenburgs and Mozart Symphonies. I have listened to some samples of his recordings of Handel's Concerti Grossi on Amazon.com. and they sound very fine. So do the samples of the recordings by Manze and Beznosiuk (Avison Ensemble), for that matter, and I think any of them would likely be satisfactory.  I really like the samples in the Marriner/Brown ASMF box set, so I am favoring that right now, but unfortunately it is temporarily out of stock, whatever that means.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000D1FCR/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Maybe in the meantime, I'll just solace myself with Karl Ristenpart's recordings of the Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites, etc.


premont

I am not a committed Händelian, but still I think I have got acquaintance with about a dozen different recordings of op. 6 during the years. However I have only kept Pinnock´s and Manze´s and do not feel any need for more. I parted with Hogwood´s recording finding him too conventional, and Harnoncourt´s Händel does nothing for me (quite contrary to his Bach and Vivaldi f.x.).
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

mc ukrneal

Here is another to consider -
[asin]B002I333HY[/asin]

They are good, straight-forward recordings done with skill and energy. Take the plunge! (groans)
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Que

Quote from: (: premont :) on June 28, 2011, 06:03:31 AM
Harnoncourt´s Händel does nothing for me (quite contrary to his Bach and Vivaldi f.x.).

I agree - Harnoncourt's Händel sounds just plain weird... ::)  :)

Q

Mandryka

Quote from: ~ Que ~ on June 28, 2011, 08:22:53 AM
I agree - Harnoncourt's Händel sounds just plain weird... ::)  :)

Q

What don't you like -- the orchestration, the balance, the pace  or something else?

I've been playing Scherchen a lot since this thread was started I would say that this is very very great music making.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

MishaK

I love the Giardino Armonico version. Just makes you want to dance. The partial Christie/Les Arts florissants is also very good.

premont

Quote from: Mandryka on June 28, 2011, 09:33:55 AM
What don't you like -- the orchestration, the balance, the pace  or something else?

I can not point to any particular thing. From a formal point of view the interpretations can not be faulted. I think it is the spirit - or lack of spirit - I did not like. It is too late to find out, as I parted with the set several years ago.

Quote from: Mandryka on June 28, 2011, 09:33:55 AM
I've been playing Scherchen a lot since this thread was started I would say that this is very very great music making.

This does not surprise me.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Mandryka

Very nice op6 /2 here. With Mortensen and the European Union Chamber Orchestra

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Kontrapunctus

I like this one on the Challenge Classics label:


val

For the elegance and also the lyricism in the slow movements, I still prefer the version of Hogwood with the Händel & Haydn Society.

betterthanfine

Quote from: Toccata&Fugue on June 22, 2013, 08:58:24 AM
I like this one on the Challenge Classics label:


I was going to mention that one. Haven't heard it myself, but I've read and heard very good things about it.

HIPster

Quote from: MishaK on June 28, 2011, 09:36:37 AM
I love the Giardino Armonico version. Just makes you want to dance. The partial Christie/Les Arts florissants is also very good.

+1 on both counts!

I recently acquired the complete Il Giardino Armonico Op. 6 set and it is exactly as you described (and I have danced a bit whilst listening).

Il Giardino Armonico:
[asin]B001KPKPF4[/asin]

Les Arts Florissants:
[asin]B00007EEK6[/asin]
Wise words from Que:

Never waste a good reason for a purchase....  ;)