Bass Continuo Archive

HANDEL: Trio Sonatas for Two Violins and Basso Continuo ‒ The Brook Street Band ‒ Avie

by Audiophile Audition | Aug 25, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

HANDEL: Trio Sonatas for Two Violins and Basso Continuo [TrackList follows] ‒ The Brook Street Band ‒ Avie AV2357, 76:10 (3/4/16) ****: An entertaining and enlightening appendix to the Brook Street Band’s Handel Trio Sonata series. Here we have the Brook Street Band batting cleanup, providing a fascinating appendix to their important survey of Handel’s music in the form of the trio sonata. I say “in the form of the trio sonata” because some of this music, including the “Oxford” Water Music recorded earlier (Avie AV0028) and the Sinfonia on the current disc are chamber music versions of orchestral works. My first Brook Street Band experience, a recording of the Op. 5 Trio Sonatas, came as something of a shock. At the time, I had in my collection a recording of Op. 5 sonatas by a now-defunct group—I think it was called the Goldsbrough Trio, headed by Arnold Goldsbrough. I recall describing the Musette from Op. 5, No. 2, as played by this group as “haunting,” an adjective I wouldn’t readily apply to the music of Handel. Imagine my surprise to hear this piece as played by Brook Street: gone was the lulling, sauntering pace of the Goldsbrough, and instead, […]