COMPOSERS: Handel
LABELS: Kevin Mayhew
ALBUM TITLE: Handel
WORKS: Complete Sonatas for Flute and Continuo
PERFORMER: Paul Edmund-Davies (flute), John Alley
(harpsichord), Tim Hugh (cello)
CATALOGUE NO: 1490170
The word ‘complete’ always strikes
a cautionary note with me. Here is
a two-CD release of the ‘Complete
Flute Sonatas’ of Handel. At first
glance, it does indeed look complete
with its roster of 11 works; but here
Paul Edmund-Davies omits one in
D major (HWV 378) unequivocally
for transverse flute. If it has been
omitted on grounds of doubtful
authenticity then three others here,
HWV 374-6, sometimes called
Hallenser Sonatas on the grounds
that they were compositions of
Handel’s youth, should have been
as well. Happily for us, they have
survived the axe, for each and every
one of the Sonatas in this recital is
nothing other than a pure delight.
Edmund-Davies’s Baroque
performing style, somewhat
disregarding of punctuation,
harks back to a mid-20th century
performing style but is, perhaps,
none the worse for that. Slow
movements are declaimed in lengthy
legato phrases which give the music
a serene nobility. Faster movements,
for the most part, are delivered in
a spirit of lively caprice, though
the Andante of the E minor Sonata
(HWV 379) feels earthbound owing
to extended legato phrase contours
in both flute and cello lines. Apart
from such differences of opinion, I
found much to enjoy in Edmund-
Davies’s recital. Heaven forfend
that this repertoire should become
the exclusive preserve of period
instrumentalists. Recorded sound
is excellent, though the omission of
any movement headings both in the
booklet and on the outer covers is
disgraceful. Nicholas Anderson.
Handel: Complete Sonatas for Flute and Continuo
The word ‘complete’ always strikes
a cautionary note with me. Here is
a two-CD release of the ‘Complete
Flute Sonatas’ of Handel. At first
glance, it does indeed look complete
with its roster of 11 works; but here
Paul Edmund-Davies omits one in
D major (HWV 378) unequivocally
for transverse flute. If it has been
omitted on grounds of doubtful
authenticity then three others here,
HWV 374-6, sometimes called
Hallenser Sonatas on the grounds
that they were compositions of
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:00 pm