These are very direct, very musical performances of Handel’s first half-dozen organ concertos. No period instruments, no gimmicks, but just well-chosen tempos, sturdy rhythms and clear and stylish articulation. The organ itself is at Holy Cross Church, Fenham, near Newcastle; the booklet (an indifferent compilation) regrettably says nothing about who built it, or when, or its specification. Simon Lindley draws from it a good selection of aptly Handelian sounds – listen for example to the glitter of the passagework in the Allegro of No. 1 or the popular Allegro of No. 2; in these, and indeed all the quick movements, notably the second of No. 3 and the finale of No. 4. Lindley’s rhythms are lively and pointed, and the nicely judged left-hand playing too adds a particular sense of poise.
I specially enjoyed the tripping rhythms of the Minuet finale of No. 1 and the expressively flowing triplets in the Andante of No. 4. In No. 5, Handel’s arrangement of one of his recorder sonatas, Lindley uses rather a lot of 4-foot and even 2-foot tone, which I don’t find entirely effective, especially as the left-hand part, at central pitch, shifts unduly into the foreground; but the Siciliano movement is happily paced, a shade quicker than usual. In No. 6, played on the organ – as Handel published it, not on the harp, as first performed – Lindley adopts a soft, light registration that echoes the sound of the orchestral recorders. There isn’t as much scope for improvisation in Op. 4 as in Handel’s later organ concertos but here and there Lindley adds a touch of elaboration or some harmonic filling-out, and quite a bit more than that in the thin-textured Larghetto of No. 6: all very appropriately and tastefully done. The orchestral playing under Bradley Creswick is excellent, alive and keenly rhythmic.'