Handel - Complete Violin Sonatas / Manze, Egarr

Track Listings
1. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Affettuoso    
2. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Allegro    
3. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Larghetto    
4. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Allegro    
5. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Adagio    
6. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Allegro    
7. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Largo    
8. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Allegro    
9. Sonata In D Minor: Grave    
10. Sonata In D Minor: Allegro    
11. Sonata In D Minor: Adagio    
12. Sonata In D Minor: Allegro    
13. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Andante    
14. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Allegro    
15. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Adagio    
16. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Allegro    
17. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Larghetto    
18. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Allegro    
19. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Adagio    
20. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Allegro    
See all 33 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
In his liner notes, Andrew Manze writes that this collection, which includes two single movements--one slow, one fast--represents all of Handel's violin sonatas, but that no one is really sure how many of them he actually wrote. No matter; they all contain wonderful music and have been loved by players and listeners since they were written. Six are well known. Two are unfamiliar, and the second of these, in G major, is quite unlike all the others: two brilliant fast movements separated by a brief, highly dramatic slow recitative. The rest are cast in the customary four-movement form, but they still have extraordinary diversity; no two of them sound alike.

Manze's program is arranged for utmost contrast, and his playing underlines the differences. He is a fabulous violinist with an effortless virtuoso technique and extraordinary bow control. He has at his disposal an incredible variety of articulation, dynamics, and nuance, which he uses to change mood, character, and expression with utmost subtlety and minimal means. He vibrates sparingly but to great tonal and emotional effect; his expressiveness ranges from driving vigor, exuberance, and headlong impetuosity to mournfulness, dramatic intensity, songful lyricism, and serenity. His rhythm is buoyant and flexible and he hesitates on certain significant upbeats in a way that is mischievous but not mannered; his tempi, fast and slow, are judicious and controlled. Both he and his pianist ornament lavishly and imaginatively in a wonderfully spontaneous, improvisatory fashion, especially in slow movements and repeats, often bursting into brilliant runs. This is "authentic" playing in every sense: faithful to the composer, the style, and the performers' passionate feeling for the music. --Edith Eisler

From International Record Review - subscribe now
Every once in a while a recording comes along that takes you by the scruff of the neck and forces you to come face to face with your long-held prejudices. So it is with this latest offering from Andrew Manze. Long ago, Handel's Op. 1 Sonatas ceased to work their magic for me. It has taken an inspirational recording such as this to bring about a reappraisal. And for many other listeners too, I think, this recording will prove a revelation. So often played as though they were music to satisfy a... read more

Handel - Complete Violin Sonatas / Manze, Egarr

Handel - Complete Violin Sonatas / Manze, Egarr, Music, George Frideric Handel, Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr, Chamber, Chamber Music, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Violin with Keyboard
Handel: Complete Violin Sonatas
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Simply astounding
 Handel: Complete Violin Sonatas

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by HandelAll Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Manze, AndrewManze, Andrew | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:
  1. Concert for the Prince of Poland
  2. Bach: Solo & Double Violin Concertos /Manze * Podger * AAM * Manze
  3. Telemann: The Six Paris Quartets
  4. Violin Sonatas Op 5
  5. Vivaldi: Concertos for the Emperor

ASIN: B0006Z2LN8
Release Date: 2005-01-11

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Simply astounding.......2006-11-06

It is not without a sense of awe that I write these words. I believe Mr. Handel himself, had he been alive to hear this recording, would have been thoroughly delighted and not perhaps devoid of a tear or two.

The grace and elegance with which these endearing sonatas are played is simply astounding. Both Manze and Egarr ought to be given knighthoods for this CD. It just has no peers. I find this supremely enjoyable CD to be an absolutely essential part of any serious baroque music fan's collection. The liner notes provide great background information of each of the sonatas, even those of less than certain authenticity, with a meticulousness that could concieveably allow for acceptable academic referencing, which is saying something!

With a careful attention to detail, the performers have given us a brilliant interpretation (I am willing to say the BEST I have ever heard, as obsequious as that may sound), of these works, in what must be considered a benchmark of high standards. Five out of five, for the purchase of the decade.
Handel - Complete Violin Sonatas / Manze, Egarr
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • get the 8 dollar version
  • SCHOLARS NOT PEDANTS
  • Music that won't let you go.
  • pure, beautiful tone!
  • A good disc, if not great
 Handel - Complete Violin Sonatas / Manze, Egarr
George Frideric Handel , Andrew Manze , and Richard Egarr
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by HandelAll Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
ViolinViolin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
Manze, AndrewManze, Andrew | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ClassicalClassical | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Violin Sonatas Op 5
  2. Pandolfi: Complete Violin Sonatas
  3. Telemann: Twelve Fantasias for Violin Solo; Gulliver Suite for Two Violins
  4. Biber: Violin Sonatas
  5. Albinoni - 12 Concertos, op. 9 / Manze, de Bruine, AAM, Hogwood

ASIN: B00005JSK8
Release Date: 2001-10-09

Tracks:

  1. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Affettuoso
  2. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Allegro
  3. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Larghetto
  4. Sonata In D Major, Op. 1 No. 13: Allegro
  5. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Adagio
  6. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Allegro
  7. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Largo
  8. Sonata In F Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Allegro
  9. Sonata In D Minor: Grave
  10. Sonata In D Minor: Allegro
  11. Sonata In D Minor: Adagio
  12. Sonata In D Minor: Allegro
  13. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Andante
  14. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Allegro
  15. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Adagio
  16. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 3: Allegro
  17. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Larghetto
  18. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Allegro
  19. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Adagio
  20. Sonata In G Minor, Op. 1 No. 6: Allegro
  21. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 10: Adagio
  22. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 10: Allegro
  23. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 10: Largo
  24. Sonata In A Major, Op. 1 No. 10: Allegro
  25. Sonata In E Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Adagio
  26. Sonata In E Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Allegro
  27. Sonata In E Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Largo
  28. Sonata In E Major, Op. 1 No. 12: Allegro
  29. Sonata In G Major: Allegro
  30. Sonata In G Major: Adagio
  31. Sonata In G Major: Allegro
  32. Andante In A Minor
  33. Allegro In C Minor

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

In his liner notes, Andrew Manze writes that this collection, which includes two single movements--one slow, one fast--represents all of Handel's violin sonatas, but that no one is really sure how many of them he actually wrote. No matter; they all contain wonderful music and have been loved by players and listeners since they were written. Six are well known. Two are unfamiliar, and the second of these, in G major, is quite unlike all the others: two brilliant fast movements separated by a brief, highly dramatic slow recitative. The rest are cast in the customary four-movement form, but they still have extraordinary diversity; no two of them sound alike.

Manze's program is arranged for utmost contrast, and his playing underlines the differences. He is a fabulous violinist with an effortless virtuoso technique and extraordinary bow control. He has at his disposal an incredible variety of articulation, dynamics, and nuance, which he uses to change mood, character, and expression with utmost subtlety and minimal means. He vibrates sparingly but to great tonal and emotional effect; his expressiveness ranges from driving vigor, exuberance, and headlong impetuosity to mournfulness, dramatic intensity, songful lyricism, and serenity. His rhythm is buoyant and flexible and he hesitates on certain significant upbeats in a way that is mischievous but not mannered; his tempi, fast and slow, are judicious and controlled. Both he and his pianist ornament lavishly and imaginatively in a wonderfully spontaneous, improvisatory fashion, especially in slow movements and repeats, often bursting into brilliant runs. This is "authentic" playing in every sense: faithful to the composer, the style, and the performers' passionate feeling for the music. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars get the 8 dollar version.......2006-01-09

same disc plus catalogue $8 new and less used!

5 out of 5 stars SCHOLARS NOT PEDANTS.......2005-04-28

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.

5 out of 5 stars Music that won't let you go........2005-04-14

Handel's andante's are introspective, sometimes a little sad but never sentimental like a few violin-adagio's from Bach. The allegro's are vivid and catch the ear but never show off like some allegro's from Vivaldi. This recording is a well-balanced musical offering that never gets boring. If you like the organ-concerto's by Handel you will also like this violin music.

5 out of 5 stars pure, beautiful tone!.......2004-06-30

The beauty of simplicity. Such clear, beautiful, resonant tone.
(just listen to the first four notes of the F Major!)
It takes my breath away. What a great example of what the violin CAN sound like. His ornamental/improvisational ideas are great to listen to - he certainly isn't just regurgitating the same old Handel sonatas! A refreshingly different take on the sonatas. (I for one am not interested in hearing the same old interpretation one more time!). This is unique and amazing. I'd like to hear more classical artists add their own personal touch in the way that Andrew Manze can.

5 out of 5 stars A good disc, if not great.......2003-10-27

Manze's musical ideas are satisfying and contribute to a convincing reconstruction of the music of Handel's era. I have yet to hear a better recording of these great sonatas, and I believe that any attempt to outdo Manze will have to be a superlative effort.

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