Readers acquainted with the Haydn symphonies recorded by this chamber orchestra will already know of its excellence. This new Handel disc is no exception and contains one of the few performances of the Water Music on modern instruments to jostle with the now very elderly Boyd Neel and Philomusica recordings for my affection. While on the subject of Boyd Neel, incidentally, it is now high time that Decca with its spirit of enterprise and rich back catalogue reissued that orchestra's recordings of Handel's Op. 3 and 6 Concerti grossi. They were torch-bearers for so much that has happened since and deserve better than to be consigned to oblivion.
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra hurl themselves into the robust spirit of the music with exhilarating zeal. Their playing of the resplendent French overture to the Fireworks Music is supple and resonant, introducing a real sense of occasion which Handel most certainly intended. Sometimes I found the orchestra's tendency towards clipped articulation a little predictable but this is a very minor point in the context of so much else that is first-rate.
The Water Music is sensibly subdivided into three suites, each anchored to its own key and dominated by an instrument of a contrasting timbre: a horn for the Suite in F, a trumpet for the Suite in D and a flute for the G major Suite, the most modestly scored of the three. The performances are, as I say, full of spirit and technically highly refined. An occasional predilection for rubato sounds somewhat anachronistic as do one or two of the rallentandos at closing cadences but one can only marvel at the precision of ensemble, the clarity of articulation and the sheer joie de vivre which these players bring to Handel's music. Textures are admirably translucent and this quality in the playing is further enhanced by a sympathetic if slightly dry recording acoustic. The various woodwind groups are effectively balanced and I especially enjoyed the ensemble playing of oboes and bassoon which often feature prominently as in the concluding movement of the F major Suite. The solo flute ornaments in the G major Suite however, struck me as lacking in propriety and considerably at odds with all else in this performance.
Little more need be said. It is a great joy to hear modern instrumentalists approach baroque music in such an enlightened way.'