Search - George Frederick Handel, Jaap Schroder, Concerto Amsterdam :: "Händel: Organ Concertos, Vol 3 "

Life Enhancing

Virginia Opera Fan | Falls Church, VA USA | 06/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own all four volumes in SACD of this wonderful series of the Handel organ concertos. For me, they have stood head and shoulders above the competition since their appearance in a 5 LP Phillips box in the late 1970s. Chorzempa's playing is wonderful - virtuosic, beautifully inflected, and gracefully ornamented. As a bonus, he interpolates movements from various works by Handel to fill out the structure and invoke the spirit of the composer's own improvisations. The circa 1780 organ is in its original state with the exception of the renovated cornet register. It has a nice tang in the reeds. While the Dutch instrument has a brighter, more assertive tone than what Handel would have probably found in the modest theater organs of his own time, I find it beguiling. The playing of the Concerto Amsterdam is bouyant and technically adroit. The gut strings are colorful while avoiding the rawness that sometimes disfigured period performances of thirty odd years years ago. The period woodwinds add a nice zest. Although recorded in a church, the sound avoids over resonance. The SACD surround sound preserves clarity while giving a good sense of air around the performers. One warning may be in order. Some people may object to the occasional clatter of the antique organ's tracker playing action. I think it adds atmosphere and it's certainly not as distracting as the various groans, grunts and humming that find their way onto mastertapes. To listen to this set is to be carried away by the invigorating quality of the performances and to be impressed anew by Handel's inventiveness and the sense of joy in his music."