This isn’t the most high-powered version of the Water Music and Fireworks Music, but it is lively and elegant, and it’s also a disc that makes an excellent case for surround sound. But first, the performances: In both works Martin Pearlman seems to be taking extra care that the brass and winds not cover the strings. In the slow movements of the Water Music, such as the lovely Adagio e staccato from the Suite in F, or the charming Andante that follows, this makes for warmly elegant results. Elsewhere, a little more “oomph” from the horns wouldn’t have been amiss. This is even more of an issue in the Fireworks Music, where the extra brass fails to project with an aptly weighty tone. Pearlman does, however, deserve credit for his sensitive treatment of the percussion in such movements as La Réjouissance. Here, the full ensemble only plays at the last repetition and thus justifies the numerous hearings of the piece’s one and only tune.
In stereo, strings and harpsichord continuo tend to sound overly prominent, and the timpani and brass lack impact. Multichannel format, though, opens up the acoustic nicely, with each instrumental section achieving a fine balance within a warmly resonant space. Trumpets and drums ring out with greater brilliance, but most importantly they never sound “covered” by the instruments in front (which, by the same token, happily don’t appear to be placed behind the listener). In short, this is one of Telarc’s more successful surround sound efforts, and while the performances may not be quite the last word in Handel interpretation, they certainly make for pleasant, if slightly uninspiring listening.
