Handel: Water Music Suites Nos. 1-3, HWV348-350

“This is a feast...the performances are outstanding. There is no finer period-instrument orchestra than Minkowski’s...wonderfully fleet-footed strings, ravishing flute and recorder, horns to delight the heart of Squire Weston himself, and all as responsive to Handel’s most delicate fancies as to his Rabelaisian humour.” Sunday Times, 2nd January 2011 ****

“The string playing is richly textured and there is some lovely solo playing, presumably by the leader Thibault Noally...the [brass] tone is raw and penetrating, yet with delicacy when needed and some quite astonishing feats of ornamentation...The performance has excitement, tenderness, wit and drama - all the qualities, in fact, for which we love Handel's music.” International Record Review, December 2010

“The opening Suite is splendid, from fine blasts of robust natural horns (if played at Whitehall, audible, I'd imagine, in Chelsea)...though the sound is weighty enough to suit the open air, his spirited players achieve a lightness of touch, even with 25 strings, and doubled horns and oboes.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 ****

“Minkowski's interpretation has plenty of tautness and verve...the vigour and force of quick movements can be dashing (in both senses of the term)...The most enduring music-making is the slower or gentler movements of the "Suite in G", with Minkowski embracing the lyrical sustained lines wholeheartedly and with emotional warmth.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2011

“The Water Music Suites...are given with all the freshness, exuberance and interpretative discretion that are hallmarks of Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski. Natural horns rasp jubilantly, the strings, while using “historically aware” technique, sound full and lithe, and Minkowski opts for judicious pacing that buoys up the music” The Telegraph, 4th February 2011 ****

“This recording recreates the scale of [the] original outdoor performance with 24 oboes, nine each of horns and trumpets, a dozen bassoons, and a mighty percussion of four pairs of timpani including a unique pair of extra-large ‘double drums’ and four side-drummers. The effect is shattering, the clearest justification for ‘authenticity’ in performance” BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide (on Musick for the Royal Fireworks)

“A rewarding programme, imaginatively realised and played with panache. Strongly recommended” Gramophone Magazine (on Water Music)

“The King’s Consort makes Handel’s music dance … the whole thing is toe-tappingly infectious” Classic CD (on Water Music)

“It's unlikely that George I ever witnessed performances that live up to this one. They are sparkling; tempos are well judged and there's a truly majestic sweep to the opening F major French overture; that gets things off to a fine start but what follows is no less compelling with some notably fine woodwind playing, so often the disappointing element in performances on period instruments.
In the D major music it's the brass department that steals the show and here, horns and trumpets acquit themselves with distinction. Archiv Produktion has achieved a particularly satisfying sound in which all strands of the orchestral texture can be heard with clarity. In this suite the ceremonial atmosphere comes over particularly well, with resonant brass playing complemented by crisply articulated oboes.
The G major pieces are quite different from those in the previous groups, being lighter in texture and more closely dance-orientated.
They are among the most engaging in the WaterMusic and especially, perhaps, the two little 'country dances', the boisterous character of which Pinnock captures nicely.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“They play on period instruments with great zest, especially so in the Fireworks Music. Speeds are consistently well choen. One test is the famous 'Air', which here remains an engagingly gentle piece.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The tradition of dividing the Water Music into three separate suites dates back to the 1950s. The suspicion that Handel envisaged it as one long sequence of movements has informed a couple of fine recordings but this disc by L'Arte dell'Arco is the first such recording to be made since the earliest surviving manuscript copy of the music (dating from 1718) was rediscovered in 2004.
The strings play with polish and alertness.
Federico Guglielmo leads proceedings expertly from the violin; his few solo flourishes are direct yet courtly. The famous Hornpipe is splendidly done, with a radiant balance between the pairs of trumpets and horns (who relish some tasteful ornaments in the da capo), and lovely solo fiddleplaying during the middle section.
Generally these performances are pleasantly contoured, though the continuo team occasionally become intrusive in faster music. However, it is good to hear musicians confident enough to play the Lentement more slowly than has become common. The Bourrée is thrillingly quick. The Country Dance sparkles with conviviality, although the recorder is a little uneven.
The Ouverture from the Music for the RoyalFireworks is given a vibrant and engaging performance.
Guglielmo and his forces achieve the rare feat of ensuring that 'La Réjouissance' is coherently shaped. CPO's translator of the booklet has done a poor job of what seems to have been an interesting note by Guglielmo ('cembalo' is consistently mistranslated as 'cymbals'!) but the disc is warmly recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The Italian group's strings play with polish and alertness. Federico Guglielmo leads proceedings expertly from the violin… The famous Hornpipe is splendidly done, with a radiant balance between the pairs of trumpets and horns… and lovely solo fiddle-playing during the middle section. The Bourrée is thrillingly quick. The Country Dance sparkles with conviviality...” Gramophone Magazine, November 2008