Complete Violin Sonatas (feat. violin: Andrew Manze, harpsichord: Richard Egarr)

by

Georg Friedrich Händel

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Andrew Manze writes nearly as well as he plays. The short essay he provides to accompany this disc is knowledgeable, clear and witty. Handel's instrumental music is a scholars' playground - he left, and very likely kept, no proper catalogue of it, and it falls to specialists to clarify as best they can which compositions going under his name are really his. What the artists here give us is 7 complete sonatas and one that is presumably complete, plus two stranded individual movements. Of the 8 'complete' efforts 5, including the presumed-complete G major, seem to be definitely by Handel. Two sets of 12 'violin' sonatas were published by one Walsh, one under his own name and the other under the pseudonym 'Roger'. The works they contain do not exactly match up, and I would have liked the contents of each plus the contents of this disc laid out as a table so as to be completely clear about the issue. The best piece of all, placed first in this recital, seems to belong in neither edition, and the most original and unusual, placed second, is of doubtful attribution.

The players' style is all-the-way authentic. Full details of the 18th century instruments, plus a fascinating picture of the violin-maker's workshop, are provided on pages 12-13 of the booklet, and Manze goes into the question of the proper constitution of the continuo or accompaniment. I found that I adapted to the sound of the violin within seconds. There's a fair amount of action-noise from the harpsichord, but authentic is authentic, so I adapted to that too. The playing seems to me beyond criticism, full of verve in the fast movements and soul in the slow, and the recorded sound is of the highest modern standard. The works themselves are beautiful and fascinating. I wonder in particular whether Handel wrote the first movement of the F major sonata, and if not who did. It is not only an exceptional piece but decades ahead of its time, as Manze rightly says.

The production is fairly de luxe, containing not only an expensively printed booklet but also a full colour catalogue of Harmonia Mundi's current offerings. The set has won critical acclaim, which I endorse wholeheartedly, and it can be recommended without qualification to all Handelians and indeed to the music-loving public generally.

I found these Sonatas incredibly boring to play and Manze pumped new life into them. I think he plays them beautifully and by listening to his interpretations it has absolutely reframed the Handel Sonatas for me. I also greatly appreciated his fine liner notes. When I first began listening I had to double check to assure it was not some sort of "digital" instrument--some of the cuts sound digitalized while some sound like a violin...this is my only problem with the CD. Some simply do not sound like a violin but like a key board trying to imitate a violin (though I know this is not so!) I have tried the CD in several different sound systems and it is the same in all and the recording simply does not do Mr. Manze's playing justice. I had packed my Handel Sonatas up long ago as uninteresting and lack luster but I am now enjoying the hell out of playing them--the problem was not in the composer but in my lack of vision and inability to "get" Handel. If you hate playing the Handel Sonatas do get this recording as this will change your entire perspective