Getting a Handel On It

The German-born English celebrity, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), knew how to entrance audiences and generate publicity, as his Opus 4 organ concertos proved.

Listen to the program

Program Broadcast dates:

Week of September 11, 2006

Links and Resources:

Music played in the program

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Organ Concerto in g/G, Op. 4, no. 1 –Concerto Amsterdam, Jaap Schroeder; Daniel Chorzempa (1780 Künckel/Church of Saints Ann and Mary, Haarlem, The Netherlands) PentaTone CD-5186-103 (PentaTone Classics)

HANDEL: Spiritoso, from Organ Concerto in B-flat, Opus 4, no. 2; Aria, Rejoice greatly, from Messiah –Suzie LeBlanc, soprano; Academie Baroque de Montreal, Alexander Weimann, conductor; Alexander Weimann (Helmuth Wolff positiv) ATMA CD-22215 (ATMA classique)

HANDEL (arr. Fox): Allegro (movement 1), from Organ Concerto in F Op. 4, no. 4 –Virgil Fox (Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1118/Riverside Church, New York, NY) RCA CD-61251

HANDEL: Organ Concerto in F, Op. 4, no. 4 (movements 2 & 4) –Menuhin Festival Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin; Simon Preston (1966 Flentrop/Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, England, UK) EMI Classics 2CD-72676

HANDEL: Organ Concerto in g, Op. 4, no. 3 –European Festival Orchestra/Valentin Reymond; Guy Bovet (1996 Saint Martin Organ Works/Collegiate Church, Neuchatel, Switzerland) Neuchatel CD-2002

HANDEL: Organ Concerto in B-flat, Op. 4, no. 6 –London Philharmonic, Sir Adrian Boult; E. Power Biggs (1747 Parker/St. James Chapel, Great Packington, England, UK) Sony Classical CD-45825

HANDEL: Organ Concerto in F, Op. 4, no. 5 –Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Joshua Rifkin; Peter Hurford (1976 Blank/Bethlehem Church, Papendrecht, Netherlands) London CD-430569