Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: Jeremy Joseph
Orchestra: Wiener Akademie
Conductor: Martin Haselböck
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Release: 2021
Size: 3.27 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Organ Concerto No. 1 in G minor, HWV289, Op. 4 No. 1
01. I. Larghetto
02. II. Allegro
03. III. Adagio
04. IV. Andante
Concerto in B-Flat Major Op. 4 / 2, HWV 290
05. I. A tempo ordinario
06. II. Allegro
07. III. Adagio
08. IV. Allegro ma non troppo
Organ Concerto No. 3 in G minor, HWV291, Op. 4 No. 3
09. I. Adagio
10 .II. Allegro
11. III. Allegro
12. IV. Gavotte:Allegro
Organ Concerto No. 4 in F major, HWV292, Op. 4 No. 4
13. I. Allegro
14. II. Andante
15. III. Adagio
16. IV. Allegro
Organ Concerto No. 5 in F major, HWV293, Op. 4 No. 5
17. I. Larghetto
18. II. Allegro
19. III. Alla siciliana
20. IV. Presto
Concerto in B-Flat Major Op. 4 / 6, HWV 294
21. I. Andante – Allegro
22. II. Larghetto
23. III. Allegro moderato
Concerto No. 13 in F Major, HWV 295 ‘The Cuckoo and the Nightingale’
24. I. Larghetto
25. II. Allegro
26. III. Larghetto
27. IV. Allegro
CD 02
Concerto in B-Flat Major Op. 7 / 1, HWV 306
01. I. Andante
02. II. Andante
03. III. Largo e piano
04. IV. Fuga (Allegro)
05. V. Bourrée (Allegro)
Concerto in A Major Op. 7 / 2, HWV 307
06. I. Ouverture
07. II. A tempo ordinario
08. III Organo ad libitum (Largo)
09. IV Allegro
Concerto in B-Flat Major Op. 7 / 3, HWV 308
10. I. Andante
11. II. Adagio e Fuga ad libitum
12. III. Spiritoso
13. IV. Menuet
Concerto in D Minor Op. 7 / 4, HWV 309
14. I. Adagio
15. II. Allegro così così
16. III. Organo ad libitum (Chaconne)
17. IV. Allegro
Concerto in G Minor Op. 7 / 5, HWV 310
18. I. Staccato ma non troppo allegro
19. II. Organo ad libitum (Adagio)
20. III. Andante larghetto e staccato
21. IV. Menuet
22. V. Gavotte
Concerto in B-Flat Major Op. 7 / 6, HWV 311
23. I. Pomposo
24. II. Organo ad libitum (Adagio e Fuga)
25. III. Air (A tempo ordinario)
Handel is best known to the wider public for his large-scale choral and orchestral works, but his organ music is equally precious. It was the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels who, diverting him from a career in the law, spotted his exceptional abilities on the instrument. By the age of seventeen, Handel was already the resident organist at the Domkirche in Halle, and he was later to defeat Domenico Scarlatti in a contest of virtuosity during his time in Rome. Martin Haselböck and the Orchester Wiener Akademie have recorded the Organ Concertos opp.4 and 7 in the prestigious Vienna Musikverein, world-famous for its acoustics. Haselböck plays on the hall’s imposing Rieger organ in what is one of its very first recordings. Inaugurated in 2011, it is the fourth organ in the Musikverein since the hall opened in 1870. With its considerable dimensions – much larger than the organs Handel used to play on – the instrument offers a tonal palette rich in contrasts.