Perhaps surprisingly, this chunky four CD set from Il Rossignolo stands as the very first complete recording of all Handel’s surviving sonatas for solo instrument and continuo. That’s 19 in all, spread across printed editions, autograph manuscripts and other manuscript sources, but to me what really makes this chronologically arranged major recording project stand out is the fact that Il Rossignolo have also incorporated all the duplicate movements and different forms by which each sonata has survived to the present day; and because these are also programmed alongside each other, it’s possible to instantly compare the differences worked by a key or instrumental change. Take the Oboe Sonata in F, HWV363a, followed by its transposition by an unknown hand into the Flute Sonata in G, HWV363b. Or the seven-movement Recorder Sonata in D minor, HWV367a (the longest and most elaborate of Handel’s sonatas), followed by its re penning to become HWV367b in B minor for flute.

Other points of interest include hearing HWV358 set down not as a violin sonata but as a recorder one, the view having been taken that when its range makes no use of the violin’s lower strings, it’s more likely to have been originally intended for the ‘flauto italiano’, whose lowest note is the G above middle C. Marcia Testi plays it with verve, vigour and virtuosity, although some readers may feel that her attractively open tone occasionally tips slightly towards sounding overblown. Thinking along the same lines but a few tracks on, violinist Florian Deuter’s swells are strongly pronounced in the Violin Sonata in A, Op 1 No 3 (HWV361), although in other ways his nimble, dulcet toned reading is a very refined one with its carefully measured vibrato and ornamentation.

Further strings pleasure comes via hearing Paolo Biordi’s viola da gamba interpretation of HWV364 off the back of Deuter’s violin version, while oboist Martino Noferi and flautist Marica Testi complete the woodwind complement, with airy softness from Testi and light-touched courtliness from Noferi. Harpsichordist Ottaviano Tenerani’s colourful and responsive partnering is unfailingly enjoyable throughout.

One further bonus is the table at the back of the booklet listing all the sonatas with their probable dates of composition and source details. So while there may be other recordings I’d go to first for some of the sonatas here, it’s an enjoyable listen, with much to recommend it from a scholarly perspective.