Volume 10
Concerto Collection
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDELThe greatest Baroque
Composers:
George Frideric Handel
- Solo Concertos
HEINZ HOLLIGER, oboe
URSULA HOLLIGER, harp
DANIEL CHORZEMPA, organ
I MUSICI
ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS
conducted by KENNETH SILLITO
ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
conducted by RAYMOND LEPPARD
CONCERTO AMSTERDAM
conducted by JAAP SCHRÖDER
CD 454 412-2 ADD
PHILIPS
- It was natural that after moving from Germany to England Handel would have
many enemies in the viciously competitive London opera scene. These were particularly
pleased by a caricature that was circulated, depicting the composer as a gluttonous
pig at the organ. The mouth is like a snout, the legs are shapelessly swollen;
seated on a wine cask, he can barely lay his hands on the keyboard because of
his fat stomach. Around him lie hams, capons, oyster shells and wine bottles.
The accompanying caption asks with mock naïvety how it is possible that a
soul full of harmony could live in this "barrel of flesh and wine."
But it was possible. True, the composer was known to eat and drink immoderately,
to the great joy of his cook; his musical ideas, however, were anything but heavy,
their rhythmic élan suggesting a nimble-toed spirit, dancing his way through
life.