This programme, recorded in May 2009, spans the Baroque and Classical periods and features suites and sonatas by three of the supreme composers who celebrate significant anniversaries in 2009: Purcell, Haydn and Handel.
In Trevor Pinnock’s words: “Initially the idea of marrying these three composers seemed crazy. But then I realised the connections. How much Handel was influenced by Purcell, incorporating Purcellian progressions in his music. And how much Haydn had been influenced by Handel. I saw the link from Purcell’s choral music to Handel’s oratorios, which in turn inspired Haydn to produce ‘The Creation’ and ‘The Seasons’. But what tipped the balance for me was that story of Haydn, when in London, accompanying a song on the pianoforte by Purcell, and saying proudly that he did it all by himself. I found it fascinating that he’d actually touched music by Purcell in 1790 - and that he’d found it very difficult. As a musician, I could feel for him”
“Once in a while a reviewer receives a record that strikes him as being so exactly right that, without switching off his critical faculties, he finds himself just sitting back and enjoying it. In an ideal world this would doubtless always be so; but I must thank Trevor Pinnock … for this particular contribution to my personal Utopia” Gramophone Magazine
May 2010
“Phrases swell and contract within a relaxed flow...Pinnock extracts veins of introspection and melancholy, the Almand of [Purcell's Suite] No. 2 especially graced with a performance of sheer beauty”
18th April 2010
“Pinnock is expansive, powerful, and expands his selection with Purcell and, more surprisingly, early Haydn, which is winningly excitable”
July 2010
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“Pinnock's playing in these works is fluent, modestly extrovert and fun-loving. It is without silly gestures and empty rhetoric”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
