Mr Charles the Hungarian – Handel's Rival in Dublin

Mr Charles the Hungarian – Handel’s Rival in Dublin Bocchi: Sonata X; Handel: Il pastor fido – Ouverture; Giulio Cesare – Va tacito e nascosto; Water Music, Suites Nos 1 & 2 (arr. J Walsh); Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 3; JA Hasse: Concerto in F; plus works by ‘Charles’, Lully and Telemann Irish Baroque Orchestra/Peter Whelan Linn Records CKD718 64:52 mins

Here is an unusual and delightful programme from bassoonist and director Peter Whelan and the Dublin based Irish Baroque Orchestra. Described as Handel’s rival in Dublin, Mr Charles the Hungarian was in all likelihood a certain Charles Vernsberg, a horn player and member of the still flourishing Royal Society of Musicians, during the 1730s and 1740s. Whelan has recreated a largely conjectural but plausible concert, based on newspaper listings of the time, which features new compositions of the day, alongside popular pieces including one by Mr Charles himself.

Whelan’s menu affords prominence to Handel, who is represented by the Overture from Il pastor fido, two arrangements by his publisher, John Walsh; the first, of Caesar’s superb aria ‘Va tacito’, from Act 1 of his 1724 opera Giulio Cesare, for flute and horn, the second of selected pieces from the Water Music, and the G major Concerto from the composer’s Op. 3. The remaining work of substance is an attractive Concerto by Handel’s contemporary, Hasse, featuring oboe, chalumeau and bassoon. Irish Baroque Orchestra with its several concertante players imbue the music with lucidity and a spirited sense of enjoyment which I find infectious.

A handful of smaller items provide the icing on a delicious cake. One of these is a little piece for solo oboe d’amore, Napolitana, from Telemann’s 1728-29 musical periodical Der getreue Music-Meister; another is a duet for two horns by Mr Charles, himself. A March from Lully’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme ends the album on a festive note.

Nicholas Anderson