Composer: Lorenzo Bocchi, George Frideric Handel, Johann Adolph Hasse, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer: Miriam Kaczor, Anneke Scott, Leo Duarte, Nicola Boud, Michele Fattori, Jonathan Byers, Patrick Broderick
Orchestra: Irish Baroque Orchestra
Conductor: Peter Whelan
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Linn
Catalogue: CKD718
Release: 2023
Size: 2.31 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Handel: Il pastor fido, HWV 8c
01. Ouverture. Untitled
02. Ouverture. Allegro
03. Handel: Va tacito e nascosto (from Giulio Cesare)
Hasse: Concerto in F Major
04. I. Adagio
05. II. Allegretto
06. III. Adagio
07. IV. Allegretto ma poco
Hasse: Concerto, Op. 4 No. 1
08. III. ‘Signora Barbarini’s Minuet’
Handel: Water Music, Suite No. 1, HWV 348
09. I. Allegro – Andante – Allegro
10. IV. Passepied
11. VI. Minuet
12. VII. Bourée
13. VIII. Hornpipe
14. IX. Andante
Handel: Water Music, Suite No. 2, HWV 349
15. I. Overture
16. II. Alla Hornpipe
Handel: Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 3 in G major, HWV314
17. I. Largo e staccato
18. II. Allegro
19. III. Adagio
20. IV. Allegro
21. Telemann: Napolitaine TWV 41:B4 in B flat major
Bocchi: Sonata X
22. I. [Untitled]
23. II. Adagio
24. III. Vivace
25. Mr Charles: Suite 1: Chasse
26. Lully: Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme)
The Mr Charles the Hungarian named in the title of this Linn release was probably Charles or Carlo Vernsberg, a hornist active in England from the 1730s onward. He must have had some connection to Hungary, but biographical details of his early years are scant. Mr Charles mounted a concert in Dublin in 1742, just as Handel was in town to perform Messiah. It is not at all clear that Mr Charles was “Handel’s rival in Dublin,” as he is here proclaimed to be. The Irish Baroque Orchestra and conductor Peter Whelan here offer a hypothetical loose reconstruction of Mr Charles’ concert. Both this program and the original, insofar as it is known, include a lot of Handel, including excerpts from the ubiquitous Water Music; Handel ruled the roost, and it is doubtful whether Mr Charles was much of a rival. Reconstruction is made difficult by the fact that almost all of Mr Charles’ own music has been lost; the Chasse movement here, an excerpt from a suite, is one of the few surviving pieces. Whelan compensates with some virtuoso solo pieces: a wind trio by Hasse, a concerto grosso by Handel with a lovely flute part, and a cello concerto by the obscure Lorenzo Bocchi. The idea of reconstructing a concert of Handel’s day is a valuable one, and the performances here are uniformly strong. Even the well-trodden Water Music is distinctive, with a blistering Bourée. Handel aficionados and Baroque fans, in general, will welcome this release.
A famous French horn virtuoso in his days, the shadowy figure known only as ‘Mr Charles the Hungarian’ was an eccentric opportunist who travelled to Dublin in March 1742. A natural entrepreneur, he capitalized on the ‘Handelmania’ surrounding Handel’s residence in the city at the time, and produced a concert at the Smock Alley Theatre which consisted mainly of Handel’s music. This album recreates the programme and the bohemian atmosphere of the event, showcasing solos for various instruments, some of which had never been heard in Ireland before. The highly resourceful Irish Baroque Orchestra and Peter Whelan have a proven record of curating enticing programmes inspired by Ireland’s musical heritage, and this is yet another fine example. Together with works by Hasse, Telemann and Bocchi, a performance of John Walsh’s early edition of Handel’s Water Music gives a perfect cross-section of this captivating moment in Dublin’s musical history.