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Handel Water Music - Favorite/Recommended recordings

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Randy Lane

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May 29, 2017, 11:05:16 AM5/29/17
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What are your favorite recordings of Handel's Water Music?
Period AND modern instrument recommendations welcome

I bought Pinnock with the purchase of my first ever CD player, and it has remained a fave. I have not heard a period performance the surpasses it for pleasurable enjoyment. Hogwood truly deserves the nickname "saw-wood" for his reading IMHO. Harnoncourt doesn't seem to be inspired, at least nowhere near the same degree as Pinnock.

There are two Gardiner recordings - Archive and Erato. Is one, or either, preferable?

Marriner is always reliable. It looks like there are possibly as many as thrre recordings (Argo/Decca, Philips (digital), and EMI. Any more (maybe a later-than-the-Argo Decca recording).

I see there is a new Göttingen recording on Accent under Cummings. Saw some good reviews online. Any on RMCR tried it out yet?

https://www.amazon.com/Handel-Water-Music-Laurence-Cummings/dp/B06XG2KJFY/

Among Modern instrument recordings I return to Szell/LSO/Decca the most frequently.
Giving some thought to:
Münchinger.
MacKerras/Telarc

I recall checking out this Maazel recording from the local library while in college, liked it quite a lot, but never found a good LP copy, and have never seen on CD. Anyone else know it?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NO0SH8

sfr...@nycap.rr.com

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May 29, 2017, 11:38:25 AM5/29/17
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On Monday, May 29, 2017 at 11:05:16 AM UTC-4, Randy Lane wrote:
> What are your favorite recordings of Handel's Water Music?
> Period AND modern instrument recommendations welcome
>

My favorite is Jordi Savall's.

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=199303

MIFrost

Matthew Silverstein

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May 29, 2017, 12:50:50 PM5/29/17
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On Monday, May 29, 2017 at 7:05:16 PM UTC+4, Randy Lane wrote:
> What are your favorite recordings of Handel's Water Music?
> Period AND modern instrument recommendations welcome

I prefer HIP recordings, and ones that employ timpani in the big movements of the D major suite. So, my favorites are:

Gardiner (Philips)
Savall
AAM Berlin (Harmonia Mundi)

My favorite recording without timpani is the recent and wonderfully imaginative Concerto Köln recording on Berlin Classics, which features some delightful ornamentation.

> There are two Gardiner recordings - Archive and Erato. Is one, or either,
> preferable?

The later recording is on Philips (now Decca), not Archiv, and it played on period instruments. I much prefer it to the earlier Erato recording.

Matty

Arno Schuh

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May 29, 2017, 3:04:52 PM5/29/17
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Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Barocque is one of my favourites.

Arno

Terry

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May 29, 2017, 4:04:51 PM5/29/17
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Jordi Savall is good. So is "Zefiro", on Naive -- an excellent performance and recording, and a really good coupling with Telemann's Water Music "Hamburger Ebb and Flow". I recommend this CD very warmly.

gggg...@gmail.com

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May 29, 2017, 4:44:40 PM5/29/17
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The following survey article may be of interest:

http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/watermusic.html

Gerard

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May 29, 2017, 4:56:57 PM5/29/17
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Op maandag 29 mei 2017 17:05:16 UTC+2 schreef Randy Lane:
My favorites were Hogwood and Pinnock, until I bought the recording by Savall, which was favorite until I bought the recording by Gardiner (on Philips).
That one is available dirty cheap in the Virtuoso series - easily a first recommendation.

danielf...@gmail.com

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May 29, 2017, 10:56:13 PM5/29/17
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On Monday, May 29, 2017 at 11:05:16 AM UTC-4, Randy Lane wrote:
Leppard's recording with the ECO coupled with the Music for the Royal Fireworks is a favorite of mine. Chamber orchestra, modern instruments, excellent soloists (including Neil Black and John Wilbraham), well judged tempi.
/Daniel

Haydn House

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May 30, 2017, 12:24:25 AM5/30/17
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It is non-HIP but remains as the best of all pre-HIP, "old school" recordings: Van Beinun / Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam. (Philips Stereo)

Alex Brown

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May 30, 2017, 3:06:55 AM5/30/17
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On 29/05/2017 19:57, Arno Schuh wrote:
> Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Barocque is one of my favourites.
>
> Arno
>

Yup this is a really good one. And as many other have said: Savall!

--
- Alex Brown

Johannes Roehl

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May 30, 2017, 3:13:27 AM5/30/17
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Am Montag, 29. Mai 2017 17:05:16 UTC+2 schrieb Randy Lane:
> What are your favorite recordings of Handel's Water Music?

Savall (with the Fireworks) or Zefiro (with the more interesting coupling, Telemann's "water music" in a recording to rival Musica Antiqua's classic from the 1980s).
Far more colorful than Gardiner who is o.k. but I never found his (Philips) recording all that noteworthy: typically brilliant, fast and straightforward but not very nuanced or colorful. It has been available cheaply in several series, so there is little risk in trying whereas Savall might still be expensive. But Savall has also one of the most beautiful covers :D.

Another one I like which is more small scale and elegant is Tafelmusik/Sony (again with a nice coupling: Il pastor fido). They don't do the traditional suites but combine all the pieces in one big suite. I actually prefer this for more variety. Harnoncourt does it as well (but the water music is not one of his better recordings, fairly rough). Savall combines the Suites in D and G into one.

Unlike the Royal Fireworks where I find Leppard's still more festive and bombastic than all the HIP ones I tried, I don't care much for his (or Marriner's) water musicks anymore (and even less for the shortened/arranged versions popular until the 1960s)

Johannes Roehl

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May 30, 2017, 3:21:36 AM5/30/17
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Am Montag, 29. Mai 2017 17:05:16 UTC+2 schrieb Randy Lane:

> I recall checking out this Maazel recording from the local library while in college, liked it quite a lot, but never found a good LP copy, and have never seen on CD. Anyone else know it?
>
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NO0SH8

This was an incredibly popular LP (my father's fairly small collection had it twice, probably some join-me-offer from a record club) and it has been on a cheapo CD
ASIN: B000024ZFH

The water music is not complete (only one LP side). Not sure how well this holds up. It's been ages that I heard it but I recall that one piece is played far slower than in more recent recordings (who play it like a dance whereas Maazel is going for some slow pastoral idyll). I guess that this was pretty good for the early 60s, probably predating even Marriner and Leppard but has been made obsolete, except for nostalgic appeal.

Terry

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May 30, 2017, 4:26:36 AM5/30/17
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Most of these "Big Band Handel" Water Music recordings are nowhere near complete.

Johannes Roehl

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May 30, 2017, 4:53:34 AM5/30/17
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Probably (and obviously if taking only one LP side), but I believe that the 60s (or early 70s) Marriner and Leppard are reasonably complete (if one counts these as "big band"). As I said, for whatever reason I like Leppard's Fireworks far more than his Water music because I have come to prefer HIP most of the time.

Orchman

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May 30, 2017, 9:14:57 AM5/30/17
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On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 12:24:25 AM UTC-4, Haydn House wrote:
> It is non-HIP but remains as the best of all pre-HIP, "old school" recordings: Van Beinun / Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam. (Philips Stereo)

That is a very fine version - I also like Kober/Chicago Chamber Orch, and Boulez/NYPO.
[I always go for modern instruments....]

ahuels...@gmail.com

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May 30, 2017, 9:46:10 AM5/30/17
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Manze takes an interesting look at the Water Music: https://www.kulturvideo.com/Handel-s-Water-Music-p/d0930.htm

Al Eisner

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May 30, 2017, 6:17:29 PM5/30/17
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Seconded (or by now tenthed). I've found myself smiling through much of
it, including his entire first suite, a rare but cherished reaction to
any recording of anything.
--
Al Eisner

Matthew Silverstein

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May 31, 2017, 3:24:01 AM5/31/17
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On Monday, May 29, 2017 at 11:04:52 PM UTC+4, Arno Schuh wrote:
> Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Barocque is one of my favourites.

This is one of the HIP recordings that employ timpani. Unfortunately, here the drums sound like they're in another room and being struck with rolled up towels.

Matty

Matthew Silverstein

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May 31, 2017, 3:26:14 AM5/31/17
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On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 12:04:51 AM UTC+4, Terry wrote:

> Jordi Savall is good. So is "Zefiro", on Naive -- an excellent performance
> and recording, and a really good coupling with Telemann's Water Music
> "Hamburger Ebb and Flow". I recommend this CD very warmly.

As do I. (I had forgotten about it.) No timpani, sadly, but superbly energetic and creative playing.

Matty

Tom Wood

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Jun 23, 2017, 5:43:49 PM6/23/17
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Kober/Chicago Chamber Orchestra -- wow that brings back memories -- that was the first recording I ever heard. Boulez/Hague Phil on Nonesuch was the second.

Of more recent modern-instruments recordings, Mackerras/Orch of St Lukes/Telarc is a bright, energetic version.

Pinnock holds up well after all these years. I never warmed up the Gardiner/Philips (tho the horns are great there). Tafelmusik is good but mostly tidy. Savall and his band play with zest, but the odd order of the movements is somewhat disorienting.

Tom Wood
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