Search - John Stanley, Roy Goodman, The Parley of Instruments :: Stanley: Six Concertos in Seven Parts, Op 2 (English Orpheus, Vol 1) /Parley of Instruments * Goodman

Pastoral English delights

01/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although there is nothing groudbreaking in his musical style, John Stanley takes the Italianate Handelian idiom and filters it into a distinctly English style and language. Born a generation after Handel (in 1710), he was blinded at age 2 yet showed a great aptitude for music, learning to play the organ brilliantly by touch, as well as learning how to conduct. His style is marked by simple elegance rather than bold invention or dash. It is perfect music for envisioning an English Palladian estate, everyone's ideal of 18th century Georgian England. Roy Goodman directs the Parley of Instruments in a manner befitting such dignified music. The period string orchestra has a mellow sound (the exact opposite of Musica Antiqua Koln) without sounding watery or thin. The concerto grosso number two is particuarly fine, with a striking cello solo in the second movement. The organ concertos are particularly charming, although without the boldness of their Handelian predecessors. Overall, a rewarding disc, the perfect companion for reading a Jane Austen novel, as well as being fine music in its own right by a lesser-known English master--all the more incredible that he was blind."