Baroque Journey Works by JS Bach, Handel, Couperin, Purcell et al Lucie Horsch, Charlotte Barbour-Condini (recorders), Thomas Dunford (lute); Academy of Ancient Music/Bojan Čičić Decca 483 4722 66:51 mins
Following her earlier disc of Vivaldi concertos, Dutch recorder virtuoso Lucie Horsch takes us on a Grand Tour of Western European Baroque music. As in her previous disc the programme is shared between pieces written specifically for a member of the recorder family and Horsch’s own arrangements of music intended for other instruments and, in two instances, the voice.
The genuine recorder works include concertos by Giovanni Battista Sammartini and Jacques-Christophe Naudot, both well loved by recorder players, the Sammartini ranking among the finest recorder concertos of the early 18th century. Two short pieces by Jacob van Eyck are also genuine recorder compositions. In an arrangement of Handel’s ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ Horsch is joined by bass recorder player, Charlotte Barbour-Condini, who is further allotted solo Divisions by English composer, Thomas Tollett. He was a contemporary of Purcell, whose celebrated Lament from Dido and Aeneas also features in this varied menu. Bach is generously catered for with a concerto, the ‘Badinerie’ from the B minor Orchestral Suite and the aria, ‘Erbarme Dich’ from the St Matthew Passion. Lute solos by Dario Castello and François Couperin, played by Thomas Dunford complete a colourful panorama stylishly and affectionately executed by all concerned.
Nicholas Anderson