Handel’s compact Sixth Suite elicits fine work from harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone. Listen for example to the Prélude’s well-adjusted runs and decorations, to the crisply delineated Largo, or the fluent, relaxed Gigue. Dantone also shines in the serious, large-scaled Seventh Suite. He effects a seamless transition between the Ouverture’s tempo changes and imaginatively embellishes the repeats, as he also does in the Sarabande. The concluding Passacaglia, of course, presents an open invitation for Dantone to tastefully exploit his instrument’s registral capabilities.
Dantone’s protracted tempo for Suite No. 8’s opening Prélude borders on static, but he compensates with a brisk and energetic Fugue. However, the Allemande and Courante show how Dantone’s fondness for agogic adjustments occasionally pulls focus from rhythmic continuity. My descriptions of Dantone’s stylistic proclivities equally apply to a selection of short works that fill out this disc. For example, Dantone’s textual embroidery and frequent tempo fluctuations throughout the wonderful G major Chaconne make us not miss the lack of repeats. Fine sound, well-written annotations.
