Gramophone Magazine
February 2021
Editor's Choice

Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord)

Handel: Suite in A Major, HWV 426
Handel: Keyboard Suite, HWV 427 in F major
Handel: Suite in D Minor, HWV 428
Handel: Fugue in C minor, HWV610
Handel: Suite in E Minor, HWV 429

By the time he issued his first collection of harpsichord suites in 1720, Handel had already focused his attention entirely on opera. As soon as it was published, the set delighted music lovers and became a bestseller all over Europe. It was such a success that it was reprinted many times. Alternating between the French and Italian styles, Handel does not respect the customary sequence of dance suites of the period. But he does touch the heart. Their direct charm and imaginative power earn these pieces, unjustly neglected today, their place in the pantheon of harpsichord music.

"His performances are clean-cut and thought-out, full of pert little trills and mordents, tasteful rhythmic dislocations and a variety of spread-chord formulations...Last, but not least, there is his busy and brilliant range of ornamentations, which can swell the sound, emphasise an individual moment or transform disjointed harpsichord notes into violin-like swirls and flourishes." - Gramophone Magazine, February 2021.