Händel: 6 Concerti Grossi Op.3, 12 Concerti Grossi Op.6

George Friedrich Händel
6 Concerti Grossi Op.3, 12 Concerti Grossi Op.6
Handel and Haydn Society, Christopher Hogwood
Avie AV 2065

A welcome return for these polished and stylish Handel readings. The London music publisher John Walsh threw Handel's Op 3 together in 1734 by organising various single orchestral movements into concertos without the composer's creative involvement or permission; the result was a hotchpotch. But Op 6 features 12 new concertos that Handel had deliberately composed as a coherent set during September and October 1739. While Op 6 is undeniably Handel's monumental masterpiece for the orchestra, there are a lot of excellent recordings that do much to promote the variety and charm of Op 3.

For this recording Christopher Hogwood uses a performance edition that takes into account manuscript sources that pre-date Walsh's compilation. It is good to have the Handel & Haydn Society's disciplined and lean performances available again thanks to this newly compiled and remastered reissue. The opening of
Op 3 No 2 has deliciously sprung rhythms and fine solo concertino playing; the sublime cello duet in the following Largo is sinewy yet tender, its melancholic mood enhanced by the restrained oboe solo. Handel later added oboes and bassoons to some of the Op 6 concertos when they were performed in the theatre but Hogwood prefers Handel's original scoring for string orchestra throughout.

The Handel & Haydn Society's alert enthusiasm is tangible throughout these polished and stylish readings, originally recorded by Decca's much lamented early-music division L'OiseauLyre. The sound is less dry than Andrew Manze's energised and supple performances, yet textures are more transparent than the expressive richness of Trevor Pinnock's excellent recordings. Hogwood combines the best of both worlds and directs with natural sensitivity; his tastefully emphasised suspensions and relaxed shaping of cadences are consistently perfect. I hesitate to proclaim this the finest Op 6 on disc but there is ample here to satisfy the fussiest Handelians.

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