Handel: Concerti Grossi op. 3

Concerto Copenhagen, Mortensen, Lars Ulrik

CPO 777 488-2

CoCo Plays Handel The leading Scandinavian ensemble in historical performance practice, the Concerto Copenhagen led by Lars Ulrik Mortensen, today is regarded throughout the world as one of the most remarkable and resourceful orchestras in its field. Vitality, a fine stylistic consciousness, and communicative talent have become its unique trademarks. It is thus that we are happy that this ensemble has now recorded Handel’s Concerti grossi op. 3 for cpo. In this group of six works published in 1734 Handel throughout draws on some older compositions that once had served as introductory or entr’acte instrumental compositions for vocal works. He continued on the successes that the Italian composers Arcangelo Corelli and Francesco Geminiani had celebrated with similar works. Handel’s music had been strongly influenced by Italian music anyway ever since his study years in Florence, Rome, Naples, and Venice. It is especially his predilection for supple melodies, choral leading of the strings, and expansive harmonic passages that attests to such influence. The pieces are not for this reason stylistically uniform in character; they form more of a compendium of Handel’s creative multifacetedness.

CD x 1

CPO

1/14/12

761203748822

Gramophone: 'Gramophone Choice' (2012)
MusicWeb International: 'Nominee for Recording of the Year' (2012)