“An outstanding disc which I foolishly overlooked back in 1993, not realising Savall et al. were such fine Handelians; it sounds spectacular now, remastered from stereo to effective but not overblown multi-channel SACD.” --BBC Music Magazine *****
This is a reissue of a recording from 1993 (re-released a few years ago and deleted in 2003), recently remastered for SACD, and it really impresses with a renewed presence and impact, even on standard CD playback. As I said in my original review, Savall's reading "comes as close as these things can to placing us in the best seat in the house and treats us to a rare experience: the sensation of believing we're hearing a ruggedly familiar piece for the first time.
Literally bursting with energy, scintillating strings, blazing horns, and incisive winds, and never boring even for one second, these performances give you Handel at his most exciting." If you have the earlier release, you probably don't need this one--unless you now own an SACD system--but it does deserve a place in every Handel collection, not only for the unsurpassed performances, but also for the effect of Savall's several decidedly "non-standard" tempos(!), and of course for the phenomenal sound, which now must have reached its ultimate realism in this format. --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com
MP3 320 · 161 MB
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