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NEXT AVAILABLITY: Nov 4-20, 2011
News
Rave review for AAM's Handel Opp.2 & 5 Trio Sonatas
The final release in the AAM's recording cycle of the complete Handel Opp.1-7 instrumental music has been lauded by this month's BBC Music Magazine. In a review in which he gave the recording five stars for both performance and recording quality, George Pratt declared that "the subtleties and nuances of the playing, coupled with the sheer variety of Handel's fertile imagination, never pales during over two hours of continuous listening." He goes on to conclude that "these are outstanding accounts with impeccable intonation and consistently warm tone at every dynamic level, and excellent balance across a wide stereo spectrum."
The cycle has been a great success, winning Gramophone, MIDEM and Edison Awards, and with each of the six releases being greeted with wide critical acclaim.
The AAM plans to return to North America in Spring 2011 as an ensemble of 10 musicians to perform a program entitled "Kaleidoscopic baroque ensemble music," including works by Bach, Telemann, Handel, Vivaldi, and Rebel.
Beginning in the Cotswolds town of Tetbury, the AAM are in the middle of a truly globe-trotting tour. On Friday 2 October, Lorna Anderson (soprano) and David Blackadder (trumpet) joined the orchestra for the Tetbury leg of the tour. A sold-out orchestra heard a programme of Scarlatti, Telemann and Handel, including Telemann's Concerto for Trumpet and Violin and Handel's Organ Concerto in F major - 'The Cuckoo and the Nightingale'. Libya was the next stop. On Monday 5 October they performed Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in the magnificent surroundings of the Roman Amphitheatre at Sabratha. Then, on Sunday 11 October, they are joined in Macau by the Choir of the AAM in a performance of Haydn's magnificent Nelson Mass.
AAM HANDEL OPP.1-7 RECORDING PROJECT DRAWS TO A CLOSE
The AAM's immensely successful project to record Handel's opp.1-7 work - the complete set of instrumental music which was published during the composer's lifetime and in the years immediately after his death - will shortly be completed with the release of a two-disc set of the Trio Sonatas Opp.2 and 5. The CD is not yet available in the shops, but can now be purchased direct from the AAM - as can all of the Handel Opp.1-7 releases. Visit www.aam.co.uk for details of how to order.
John Walsh's (?1665-1736) editions of Handel have received widespread critical dispraise. But, in these recordings, Richard Egarr places more trust in Walsh than most whilst still reserving the right to go back to the original autograph manuscripts. The discs of Organ Concertos Op.7 demonstrate this perfectly. Egarr stays faithful to Walsh for the first five concertos, even reproducing Walsh's entirely novel additions - the Gavotte in the fifth concerto, for instance, seems to have no basis in Handel's own work. In the sixth concerto, though, the difference between Handel's original score and Walsh's version prompts Egarr to depart from the latter. The result is something quite extraordinary. Egarr, in his typically enthralling programme notes, states it plainly: "I believe that the extraordinarily serene Air lentement has never seen the light of day in any previous recording or performance of this concerto." It is the authenticity of the performance on the Op.7 discs which impressed BBC Radio 3's CD Review on 30 August. Andrew MacGregor called it "an outstanding achievement", and described Egarr's choice of organ, and his departures from Walsh, as making "perfect sense".
Press Highlights
"It wouldn't be a stretch to call Egarr the Bernstein of Early Music.... He's one of the most exciting and delightful musicians of our time."
— National Public Radio's "All Things Considered"“The Academy of Ancient Music is in world-beating form once more with this magnificent Handel disc. Egarr and the musicians play with dynamism and warmth which suggests that Egarr's tenure with this band is going to be a rewarding one. Long may it last."
— Gramophone“With Richard Egarr's brilliance as its music director, this orchestra is playing better than ever. For several years now, proof has been coming in the form of fantastic recordings, and it was certainly confirmed with a live performance Saturday night.”
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette