Castle Classics Handel, George Frederic (German/British 1685-1759)

G F Handel: Saul, oratorio in 3 acts (sung in English) - Rosemary Joshua, Emma Bell, Lawrence Zazzo, Jeremy Ovenden, Gidon Saks, Michael Slattery, Finnur Bjarnason, Henry Waddington; RIAS-Kammerchor; Concerto Köln; René Jacobs, conductor

Label - Harmonias Mundi

Cat. No. - HMC801877-78

2 SACD Set

SACD Hybrid Recording

Just a year after his triumphant The Seasons, not to mention the award-winning Marriage of Figaro, René Jacobs returns to the oratorio genre at the head of a phenomenal cast. His acclaimed Così fan tutte is reissued at mid price this month on the harmonia mundi Mozart Edition. The oratorio Saul was composed in the summer of 1738, first performed on 16th January 1739 at the King's Theatre in London and was regularly revived during the composer's lifetime. The celebrated Dead March, probably ensured that it was one of the few Handel oratorios to escape the oblivion that largely overtook his large-scale choral compositions, with the exception of Messiah.

Although oratorios are not intended to be staged, Handel's Saul is something of an exception, for one thing, it contains extremely precise stage directions which were printed and distributed at performances. Hence audiences at the first English oratorios, aided by Handel's dazzling musical depiction of the action, could see Goliath's gigantic strides, the course of the Jordan, or Saul throwing his javelin. In choosing to build their work around this biblical character, comparable to the great Shakespearian tragic figures, Handel and his librettist ensured its perennial success
Price: £22.51 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Messiah (Dublin version 1742) - Susan Hamilton, soprano; Annie Gill, mezzo; Clare Wilkinson, alto; Nicholas Mulroy, tenor; Matthew Brook, bass; Edward Caswell, bass; Dunedin Consort; John Butt, conductor

Label - Linn

Cat. No. - CKD285

SACD Hybrid Recording

2 SACD Set

Gramophone Magazine Awards 2007 Best of Category Winner - Baroque Vocal

Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Messiah - Susan Gritton, Sara Mingardo, Mark Padmore, Alastair Miles; Tenebrae Choir; London Symphony Orchestra; Sir Colin Davis, conductor

Label - LSO Live

Cat. No. - LSO0607

SACD Hybrid Recording

2 SACD Set

Price: £12.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Messiah (1750 Version) (SACD Recording) - Kerstin Avemo, Patricia Bardon, Lawrence Zazzo, Kobie van Rensburg, Neal Davies; The Choir of Clare College; Freiburger Barockorchester; René Jacobs, conductor

Label - Harmonia Mundi

Cat. No. - HMC801928-29

SACD Hybrid Recording

2 SACD Set

René Jacobs follows the highly theatrical Saul, and ecstatic reviews for the neglected La Clemenza di Tito [see opposite], with Messiah, in the 1750 version with two alto soloists.
Price: £22.51 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Solomon - Soloists; Winchester Cathedral Choir; Festspielorchester Gottingen; Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Label - Carus

Cat. No. - CARUS83242

SACD Hybrid Recording

3 SACD Set

Soloists: Tim Mead (Boy Alto) Dominque Labelle, Claron McFadden, Micheal Slattery, Roderick Williams.

Price: £32.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Water Music. Music for the Royal Fireworks (SACD) - Aradia Ensemble; Kevin Mallon, conductor

Label - Naxos

Cat. No. - 6110115

SACD Hybrid Recording

Including Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 • Water Music - Suite No. 1 in F major, HWV 348 • Water Music - Suite No. 2 in D major, HWV 349 • Water Music - Suite No. 3 in G major, HWV 350

Brimming with exhilarating dance tunes and colourful sonorities, Handel’s Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks are his two most popular orchestral works. The famous pieces are here performed with new verve and vigour by the Aradia Ensemble under Kevin Mallon.

As the conductor himself describes: "In the source material the famous air was marked Presto — giving the music a lift and joy far removed from the lugubriousness as is often heard. We gave this type of lift to all the music — fast tempi in the overtures and dances, bringing the music alive."
Price: £8.75 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Water Music. Music for the Royal Fireworks - Alan Civi;, English Chamber Orchestra; Harold Lester; Derek Wickens; John Wilbraham; Johannes Somary

Label - Vanguard Classics

Cat. No. - ATMCD1519

SACD Hybrid

"Handel wrote the original score of the Royal Fireworks Music for an absolutely crazy assortment of winds, brass and percussion: 21 oboes, 21 bassoons, 9 horns, 9 trumpets, 3 snare drums, and several sets of timpani (including extra large ones called double timpani). Until the mid-1960s or so, no one had any idea what this sort of thing sounded like. Then Charles Mackerras and Johannes Somary, each for different labels, got together just about every spare wind and brass player in London and decided to find out. The result is this absolutely sensational frolic that will surely have your neighbours running for cover. It's a blast. Literally." Amazon.com
Price: £9.75 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Concerti Grossi Op.3. Sonata a 5 HWV 288 (SACD Version) - The Academy of Ancient Music; Richard Egarr, conductor

Label - Harmonia Mundi

Cat. No. - HMU807415

SACD Hybrid Recording

Price: £14.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Great Oratorio Duets - Carolyn Sampson, soprano; Robin Blaze, counter-tenor; The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Nicholas Kraemer, conductor

Label - BIS

Cat. No. - BISSACD1436

SACD Hybrid Recording

Including These labours past (from Jephtha, HWV70); Oh peerless maid; Our limpid streams (from Joshua, HWV64); Great victor, at your feet I bow (from Belshazzar, HWV61); When thou art nigh; To my chaste Susanna's praise (from Susanna, HWV66); To thee, thou glorious son of worth; Streams of pleasure ever flowing (from Theodora, HWV68); Welcome as the dawn of day; Ev'ry joy that wisdom knows (from Solomon, HWV67); Kind Health descends (from Ode for the birthday of Queen Anne, HWV74); O fairest of ten thousand fair; At persecution I can laugh (from Saul, HWV53). Where do thy ardours raise me!; Smiling freedom, lovely guest (from Deborah, HWV51); Hail wedded love (from Alexander Balus, HWV65); Let's imitate her notes above (from Alexander's Feast, HWV75). Who calls my parting soul (from Esther, HWV50b) - World Première Recording

Pure delight: two of Britain's most exciting singers together with one of the most vibrant of the English period bands, in a collection of wonderful duets from Handel's English oratorios and odes including a world premiere recording of the 1732 version of 'Who calls my parting soul' from Esther.

Both Carolyn Sampson and Robin Blaze collaborate with Masaaki Suzuki in his recordings of Bach Cantatas, for which they are receiving high praise. "Sampson's rounded, lyrical, glowing tone is just what I want to hear in the warm-hearted soprano cantata O holder Tag" said the critic in International Record Review about BISCD1411, whereas The Times described Robin Blaze as being "blessed with a most alluring countertenor - creamy in tone, naturally expressive, exquisitely controlled…".

These qualities certainly all come to the fore in this selection of duets which, while mainly gathered from religious works, focus on that general subject of interest: Love. Love between husband and wife, between Kings and Queens, between lovers, between conqueror and vanquished.
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: An Ode for St Cecilia's Day - Carolyn Sampson, soprano; James Gilchrist, tenor; Choir of The King's Consort; The King's Consort; Robert King, conductor

Label - Hyperion

Cat. No. - SACDA67463

Super Audio Hybrid CD (SACD)

Including An Ode for St Cecilia's Day HWV76; Cecilia, volgi un sguardo HWV89
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Solo Cantatas - Veronika Winter; Das Kleine Konzert; Hermann Max, conductor

Label - Capriccio

Cat. No. - CAP71083

SACD Hybrid Recording

Including Un’ alma inamorata HWV 173; Dietro l’orme fugaci HWV 105; Figlio d’alte speranze HWV 113; Psalmus 112 “Laudate pueri Dominum” HWV 236

Three Italian cantatas and the musical arrangement of a Latin psalm from the pen of a young Georg Friedrich Handel are presented on this new Capriccio SACD. Handel wrote these works in Italy at a time when the pontifical ban on operas was still effective. Veronika Winter and the Kleine Konzert have recorded four examples of this demanding music, conducted by Hermann Max.
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Overtures - Academy of St Martin in the Fields; Kenneth Sillito, condcutor

Label - Capriccio

Cat. No. - CAP71080

SACD Hybrid Recording

Overtures and Incidental Music from Alcina, Ariodante, Berenice, Solomon, Agrippina and Rodrigo

After Handel’s death, a comprehensive collection of 65 overtures was published. These became basic repertoire works for orchestras all over Britain and were much more frequently played than his Concert Grossi. However fashions have changed and it is now unusual to hear a Handel overture out of context from the complete work. This selection of overtures and dances shows some of the vitality and variety of Handel’s orchestral writing.
Price: £9.75 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Concerti Grossi Op.3 Nos.1-6 - Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Jan Willem de Vriend, conductor

Label - Challenge Classics

Cat. No. - SACC72140

SACD Hybrid Recording
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Organ Concertos 1,2,3,4,6 Op.4 - Erzsebet Achim, organ; Budapest Strings

Label - Capriccio

Cat. No. - CAP71076

Including Organ Concerto in B flat major op.4 No.6; Organ Concerto in G minor op.4 No.1; Organ Concerto in G minor op.4 No.3; Organ Concerto in B flat major op.4 No.2; Organ Concerto in F major op.4 No.4

Stylistically, Handel’s Organ Concertos pose a stark contrast to the cerebral, abstract and symbolic works for organ written by his contemporary Bach. Handel separated the instrument from its liturgical anchoring and turned it into a dialogue partner for the orchestra and gave the works an emotionally pointed, witty and virtuosic Baroque character.
Price: £9.75 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Recorder Sonatas - Pamela Thorby, recorder; Richard Egarr, harpsichord

Label - Linn

Cat. No. - CKD223

Super Audio Hybrid CD (SACD)

Including Sonatas for Recorder and Continuo; 8 Suites for Keyboard, Set I - Suite No. 5 in E, HWV430

"Versatility and virtuosity aplenty" - Gramophone August 2004
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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G F Handel: Organ Concertos - Daniel Chorzempa, organConcerto Amsterdam; Jaap Schröder, conductor

Label - Pentatone

Cat. No. - PTC5186110

Super Audio Hybrid CD (SACD)

Including Organ Concerto No.14 in A major: Organ Concerto No.15 in D minor; Organ Concerto No.16 in F major
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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