Search - George Frederick Handel, Ottavio Dantone, Accademia Bizantina :: Handel: Organ Concertos, Op.4

Unexpected

M. Figg | USA | 10/27/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Handel's Opus 4 Organ Concerti were collected from works written to be performed between the acts of his oratorios in London, supposedly to pull in ticket buyers for the failing opera company, with a chance to listen to listen to Handel actually perform. Historical accounts indicate that Handel was a technically gifted, creative and exciting keyboardist, especially on the organ. After owning the Opus 4 by Bob Van Asperen with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment and previewing the set by Richard Egarr with the Academy of Ancient Music, these works always sounded (IMHO) melodic and well-structured but at the same time somewhat rhythmically square at times predictable.



I was not only blown away by the playing of Dantone and the Academia Bizantina, but the way that their playing in turn transforms these works into an event. Their playing is energetic, bold and crisp without being dry: textures are very clear but without sounding thin or losing any momentum. Handel's preeminence as an opera composer comes to the fore in these versions more than the others I've heard, giving us truly dramatic effects and a real sense of interaction between the players, with Dantone's organ center stage. More so than any other performance of Handel's keyboard works (by the above mentioned soloists as well as Paul Nicholson's disc of harpsichord sonatas), this disc crystallized the idea of Handel the virtuoso shredding away at the keyboard.



I give this recording 4 out of 5 stars only because some of the band's interpretive nuances might not be to everyone's liking. Fast movements are incredibly brisk and slow movements are laced with prominent ritardandi, the soloist and the ensemble liberally ornament and noticeably improvise at times, and some movements feature a very prominent guitar in the continuo which I know will irritate some diehard HIP fans. In general, their approach is propulsive rather than delicate, similar to discs by Il Giardino Armonico or the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra rather than some "cleaner" English period instrument groups.



Charges of mannered playing aside, this disc opens up a lot about these works, admittedly by putting the performers in the spotlight. Worth hearing, even if you only drop $10 for the download.

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