Description
SKU/Barcode: 747313103072
Previously released in 1995 on Lydian, these performances by Andrew Mogrelia and the Prague Chamber Soloists of George Frideric Handel's complete Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks get a new lease on life in Naxos' Selection series, an ultra-budget line that reminds one of what the label used to be like. While the playing is decent and the sound adequate, there is nothing attention-grabbing about these 1992 recordings, and certainly nothing that hasn't been heard before in other mainstream interpretations. There is nothing controversial in the arrangement of Water Music, which is made up of the standard suites in F major, D major, and G major; the performance of Fireworks Music with strings is the commonly accepted version. Seekers of novelty -- such as a new edition or alternate instrumentation, which appear on some period performances -- will be disappointed by these straightforward renditions, but listeners who just want a good, basic recording will find that Mogrelia and his musicians are historically informed (if not strictly a period-instrument ensemble), technically competent, and sufficiently expressive in their playing to satisfy most needs. The reproduction seems a bit soft in the Suite in F major, but comes to a normal volume level in the brass-oriented Suite in D major, and stays there for the rest of the disc.
1 Overture (Allegro)
2 Adagio E Staccato
3 Andante
4 Air
5 Minuet
6 Bourr?E
7 Hornpipe (Allegro)
8 Alla Hornpipe
9 Minuet
10 Lentement
11 Bourr?E
12 Rigaudon
13 Menuet
14 Gigue
15 Overture: Adagio - Allegro - Lentement - Allegro
16 Bourr?E
17 La Paix
18 La R?Jouissance
19 Menuet 1
20 Menuet 2
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