English Baroque Soloists — John Eliot Gardiner
Philips 434 122-2
Gardiner’s Water Music has unusual vitality without ever sounding hurried. The English Baroque Soloists play with crisp articulation, bright brass and wonderfully conversational woodwinds. Gardiner keeps the dance rhythms alive, but he also allows the quieter music to breathe. The result is colorful, festive and beautifully recorded—still one of the most persuasive period-instrument accounts. BBC Music Magazine awarded it five stars.
The English Concert — Trevor Pinnock
Archiv Produktion 410 525-2
The ensemble is actually the English Concert, not the English Chamber Orchestra. Pinnock’s classic 1983 recording is slightly more contained than Gardiner’s, but perhaps even more graceful. Rhythms are buoyant, textures remain transparent, and the playing has the polished ease that made the English Concert famous. Gardiner supplies more theatrical excitement; Pinnock offers greater poise. MusicBrainz release details
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra — Karl Münchinger
London/Decca 417 743-2
Münchinger represents an earlier Handel tradition: fuller strings, broader tempos and a more stately manner. It lacks the spring and instrumental color of the period-instrument versions, but the playing is warm, dignified and never ponderous. This generously filled disc also includes the Music for the Royal Fireworks and an oboe concerto featuring Lothar Koch. Decca release details
Gardiner is my first choice for sheer life and color, with Pinnock an exceptionally refined alternative. Münchinger is worth hearing when one wants Handel presented with old-fashioned warmth and ceremony.
