The best recording to date of the Op. 6 Concerti grossi has been widely recognized as that by The English Concert under Trevor Pinnock (Archiv Produktion); if I appear to overlook it, I do not—those reviewed here are by bands that do not use period instruments or techniques. Despite the steady growth of available recordings these works remain less well known than Bach's essays in the same vein—the Brandenburg Concertos; maybe because they have a less evocative title, their strings-only concertinos are less colourfully varied and six are easier to take in than 12. They are however, diverse in constitution and immediately appealing and, carried on the tide of inspiration Handel wrote all 62 movements within one month, in the autumn of 1739; such rapid release of a 'head of steam' often brings out the best in a composer, as it did in this case with Handel.
The devotion of I Musici (IM) to the baroque has until quite recently been centred more on the music than on the stylistic fidelity of its presentation, but most of the romantic ghosts of their past have effectively exorcized. The Guildhall String Ensemble (GSE) have come fresh into a more academically informed climate and with youth (and its enthusiasm) on their side. The Academy of St Martin's (ASMF), also on Philips, are famously flexible and long experienced in the middle-of-the-road performance of baroque music. Handel later began to add oboe parts to these concertos but, probably realizing their superfluity, stopped in mid-stream, all three bands here wisely follow suit in turning their backs on them. The figured-bass markings on some concertino cello parts, absent from Handel's manuscripts but added to the published scores, pose questions: Chrysander's assertion, that ''there could be no question of keyboard support here'' is not entirely convincing, but if they were meant to ''indicate the harmonies to the cellist'' then why in some places and not in others? The harpsichordists in all three groups accept the invitations but to different extents: I Musici's is the busiest wasting few opportunities to enter the fray, in some cases, e.g. Concerto No. 6/I, even when 'uninvited', and ready to fill 'spaces' that are better left unfilled, as in Concerto No. 12/I. Friendly janglings proclaim, however, that none of the three is short-changed by the balance.
Tempo differences are often minimal but the GSE's are most often the fastest and IM's the slowest; the ASMF's watchword is moderation. Only occasionally, though, do the differences work against the spirit of the music: IM's slow pace in Concertos Nos.3/II and 8/I (of which the GSE make even heavier going) expresses gravity of the 'specific' rather than the spiritual kind, and belies the title (Siciliana) of No. 8/V. When it comes to that which is not written, IM and the ASMF are more adventurous than the GSE: their (solo, and occasionally tutti) lines are often happily embellished, and IM are particularly ready to introduce inegalites, e.g. in Concertos Nos.5/VI, 6/III, 7/IV and 8/IV (also the ASMF); in No. 6/III, both IM and the ASMF reconcile even pairs of quavers (e.g. in bar 65) with the prevailing Lombardic rhythms, whilst the GSE leave the two to fight it out.
Whatever IM may have discarded it is not the sumptuousness of their sound (though the good recording ensures that it rarely muddies the textures), the other side of the coin from the GSE's bright and incisive one. The ASMF's recording is the earliest, but though this occasionally shows in a lack of midrange clarity it is not a factor that should affect one's choice. All three sets (each blessed with splendid soloists) are highly enjoyable, though none can be regarded as 'definitive' (if such a thing can ever really exist with music of this kind) and your choice may safely be made in line with the individual characters of the bands as I have defined them. The GSE's fresh-sounding account has yet to be completed, as I hope it may soon be.'