Handel: Harpsichord Suites / Colin Tilney et al.
It must be 50 years ago that I became a complete Handel fan with this historic masterpiece by Isolde Ahlgrimm (recorded in 1970). I still don’t think I’ve ever come across a recording that can match this performance.
Well I would like to introduce some of the more recent recordings of Handel’s suites. First, Colin Tilney recorded an analog disc of only four pieces in 1974 on the Archiv label, and a complete set of eight pieces on Naxos in 2008. Bridget Cunningham’s 2019 recording includes Handel’s Overture and Arrangements for Harpsichord from his own opera as bonus tracks. As well as a recording of the Francesco Corti’s 2021 CD also includes arrangements from Handel’s operas by him own and William Babell. Pierre Hantaï’s CD from 2020 includes only the “Six Fugues” in C minor (why not record all six?). And now I have just discovered on Spotify the four excerpts released by Isolde Ahlgrimm in 2009. It is a very nice performance with original instruments, but two pieces are duplicated from the 1970 version (which means there are two more pieces that are not recorded). #baroque #handel #片山俊幸
