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Handel's Memories - A selection from Grand Concertos op. 6
Georg Friedrich Händel

Al Ayre Español

Handel's Memories - A selection from Grand Concertos op. 6

Price: € 14.95
Format: SACD hybrid
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917254822
Catnr: CC 72548
Release date: 18 May 2012
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917254822
Catalogue number
CC 72548
Release date
18 May 2012

"Absolutely listen to it!"

hifi & records, 01-3-2013
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

Something new and something borrowed. In the days that Handel lived, it was common to use an existing melody and make it your own. Handel's Grand Concertos contains a surprising quantity of newly composed material, as well as some borrowings, such as the memories or musical anecdotes, written with intense lyricism and certain sentimentality, previously absent from his instrumental music.
His “operatic” Concerto No. 8, written in the ill-natured, though also lovely, tonality of C minor, is one of the most dramatic in the collection, and concurrently possesses one of the most interesting structures. It starts with a movement based on the main motif of an allemande – “a German piece” – by Johann Mattheson, published in his Pièces de clavecin (London, 1714, the same year as Corelli’s concerts).

The Componimenti Musicali by Gottlieb Theophil Muffat, with whom the German composer exchanged music during the 1730s, provide Handel with some ideas from which he builds formidable orchestral movements in these concertos. “He takes other men's pebbles and polishes them into diamonds”, the British composer William Boyce used to say of him. It could not be more true when we observe the use Handel makes of these and other loans. Al Ayre Espanol with this performance makes us aware of the sheer beauty of this music, which always turns into gold in the hands of master Handel: new or borrowed. Grand concertos grandly performed!
Händels meesterwerken met Spaanse verve uitgevoerd door het ensemble Al Ayere Español
In de dagen van Georg Friedrich Händel was het gewoon om bestaande melodieën te gebruiken en je deze eigen te maken. Händel deed dat met de muziek van zijn bevriende collega-componisten. De Britse componist William Boyce zei daarover: "Hij neemt de kiezelstenen van een ander en polijst ze tot diamanten." Dat gebeurde ook met Händels Grand Concertos. Maar naast geleend materiaal, zoals de muzikale herinneringen uit zijn vroegere instrumentale composities, bevat de selectie op dit album een verrassende hoeveelheid nieuwe stukken. “Het uitstekende Spaanse barokorkest Al Ayre Español, onder aanvoering van klavecinist Eduardo López Banzo, speelt deze selectie van zes van de oorspronkelijke twaalf concerto's met een aanstekelijke energie en finesse.” Rene de Cocq, Luister, september 2012.

'Maak muziek op de Spaanse manier', dat is waar Al Ayre Español voor staat. Eduardo López Banzo, geboren in Zaragoza in Spanje, richtte het ensemble op in 1988. Dit deed hij na zijn studie in Amsterdam, bij de Nederlandse klavecinist, dirigent en musicoloog Gustav Leonardt. López Banzo richt zich niet alleen op de Spaanse barokmuziek met zijn rijke en ingewikkelde ritmes, maar kijkt ook naar de barok uit andere culturen. Zijn doel: deze oude muziek nieuw leven inblazen en toegankelijker maken voor het moderne publiek. De stijl van Händel past bij Eduardo López Banzo en zijn ensemble. Met hun passie laten zij de instrumenten zingen, iets wat Händel deugd zou doen. Al Ayre Español bespeelt inmiddels alle grote podia van de wereld.

De Duitse Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) was een barokcomponist van dramatische muziek. In hetzelfde jaar geboren als Johann Sebastian Bach, werd hij gezien als een van de grootste componisten van zijn tijd. In tegenstelling tot Bach, kwam Händel niet uit een muzikale familie. Zijn vader werkte aan het hof van Saksen-Weißenfels. Daar bleef Händels talent niet onopgemerkt en werd er op aangedrongen de jonge Georg een muziekstudie te laten volgen. Na omzwervingen in Duitsland en Italië, kwam Händel uiteindelijk in Londen terecht, waar het 'Handel' zonder umlaut werd. Hij componeerde er zijn beroemde Water Music voor een pleziertochtje van Koning George I op de Theems. De muziekkapel speelde, terwijl de bootjes op de rivier dreven. In Londen leed Händel een voorspoedig en rijk leven. Hij werd Engels staatsburger en stierf na een werkzaam leven op 74-jarige leeftijd. Hij is in Westminster Abbey begraven en bijgezet.

Händels Meisterwerke mit spanischer Verve.

"Er nimmt die Kieselsteine anderer Männer und poliert sie in Diamanten" pflegte der britische Komponist William Boyce, von G.F Händel zu sagen. Ein wahrer Ausspruch, wenn wir die Vorgehensweise Händels betrachten. Händel verwendete Material seiner Komponisten-Kollegen, die größtenteils seine Freunde waren. Al Ayre Espanol vollbringt die Leistung, uns die bloße Schönheit dieser Musik zu Ohren zu bringen, die sich unter den Händen des Meisters Händel immer in Gold verwandelt: neu oder geliehen! Großartige Konzerte, großartig musiziert!

Artist(s)

Al Ayre Español

Al Ayre Español was founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo, in an effort to challenge the pervading clichés that often surrounded the performance of Spanish baroque music at that time. The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title of a guitar fugue by the Aragonese composer Gaspar Sanz. The fact that Al Ayre Español has not settled for becoming a specialised early music ensemble, but chosen instead to create a musical philosophy „al ayre español“ (à la espagnole), has allowed the project to be flexible enough to adapt itself to different formats.   With 30 years of appearances in the top festivals and theaters in Europe, 14 years as a resident orchestra at the Auditorio de Zaragoza, 18 CD...
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Al Ayre Español was founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo, in an effort to challenge the pervading clichés that often surrounded the performance of Spanish baroque music at that time. The name of the ensemble was inspired by the title of a guitar fugue by the Aragonese composer Gaspar Sanz. The fact that Al Ayre Español has not settled for becoming a specialised early music ensemble, but chosen instead to create a musical philosophy „al ayre español“ (à la espagnole), has allowed the project to be flexible enough to adapt itself to different formats.
With 30 years of appearances in the top festivals and theaters in Europe, 14 years as a resident orchestra at the Auditorio de Zaragoza, 18 CD recordings, national and international awards (2004 Premio Nacional de Música, among others) and distinctions, as well as a relentless schedule of international performances and events for the coming seasons, there is no doubt that the group from Aragon is one of the most prominent ensembles in Spain.
Throughout those thirty years Al Ayre Español has performed at the most prestigious concert halls: Amsterdam‘s Concertgebouw, Vienna‘s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Düsseldorf‘s Tonhalle, Berlin‘s Konzerthaus and Philharmonie, the Théatre des Champs Elysées and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, Madrid‘s Teatro Real and Auditorio Nacional, Barcelona‘s Palau de la Musica Catalana and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Hamburg‘s Leiszhalle, Washington‘s Library of Congress, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Metz‘s Arsenal, Lisbon‘s Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Bilbao‘s Palacio Euskalduna, Rome‘s Teatro Olimpico, etc.
Al Ayre Español has also been invited to some of the most important festivals: Baden Baden Easter Festival, Bachfestspiele Leipzig, Oude Muziek Utrecht, Internationale Festtage Alter Musik Stuttgart, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Dresdner Musikfestpiele, Festival d‘Ambronay, Handel Festspiele Halle, Oslo Church Music Festival, Praga Spring Festival, Monteverdi Festival (Cremona), Festival en el Camino de Santiago, Festival de Santander, Quincena Musical de San Sebastián, Hong Kong Arts Festival, etc.
Al Ayre Español’s recordings have been produced by labels such as Almaviva, Fidelio, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Harmonia Mundi France, Naïve-Ambroisie and Challenge Records.
Al Ayre Español is sponsored by Industrias Químicas del Ebro and the Ministry of Culture of Spain, and maintains a residence agreement with the Auditorio de Zaragoza. The ensemble has been Zaragoza’s ambassador since 2011.


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Eduardo López Banzo

Eduardo López Banzo, born in Zaragoza in 1961, is one European conductor who has made Historicism his own musical philosophy with the most conviction, in order to bring his musicians closer to the sources and spirit of each composition, which results in the music sounding fresh and innovative to contemporary audiences after so many centuries. He studied organ and harpsichord in Zaragoza with José Luis González Uriol and in Amsterdam with Jacques van Oortmersen and Gustav Leonhardt, who encouraged him to champion the cause of Spanish baroque music.   In 2002 he received the Medal of Honour of the Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands for his work in favour of the baroque composer Antonio de Literes, but it was in...
more
Eduardo López Banzo, born in Zaragoza in 1961, is one European conductor who has made Historicism his own musical philosophy with the most conviction, in order to bring his musicians closer to the sources and spirit of each composition, which results in the music sounding fresh and innovative to contemporary audiences after so many centuries. He studied organ and harpsichord in Zaragoza with José Luis González Uriol and in Amsterdam with Jacques van Oortmersen and Gustav Leonhardt, who encouraged him to champion the cause of Spanish baroque music.
In 2002 he received the Medal of Honour of the Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands for his work in favour of the baroque composer Antonio de Literes, but it was in 2004 that he achieved Major success, when Al Ayre Español, the group he had founded in 1988, was awarded the Spanish National Music Prize, granted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, in recognition to their more than twenty years of musicological rigour and performance excellence. This acknowledgement leads to Al Ayre Español becoming a point of reference for historicist interpretation all across Europe.
He has been invited to conduct for the symphonic orchestras of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Galicia, Madrid, Granada and Comunitat Valenciana, and period instruments ensembles such as New York Collegium, San Francisco‘s Philarmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Belgian B‘Rock, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla and the Polish Arte dei Suonatori and KORE.
In the operatic field, Eduardo Lopez Banzo is currently one of the most important specialists in Handel‘s operas. He has also participated in stage productions by Bilbao‘s Friends of Opera Association (ABAO/ OLBE), in Valencia‘s Palau de les Arts with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, and in Kiel Opera with the Philarmonisches Orchester Kiel.
He has also lectured and conducted specialized courses and masterclasses at the Universities of Salamanca, Alcalá de Henares, UIMP Santander and Zaragoza, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Fondazione Cini in Venice, and every year gives a renowned course on the baroque cantata in León (Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical, Spain’s Ministry of Culture).
Eduardo López Banzo was honored with the Key to the City of Zaragoza award in October 2010.

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Composer(s)

Georg Friedrich Händel

Georg Frideric Handel was a composer from the Baroque period. Handel wrote primarily music-dramatic works: 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, which comes to a total amount of almost 2000 arias! Furthermore, he composed English, Italian and Latin sacred music, serenades and odes. Among his instrumental music are several organ concertos, concerti grossi, overtures, oboe sonatas and violinsonates, along with many solo works for harpsichord and organ.  Together with Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in the same year (1685), Handel is viewed as one of the greatest composers of his time. He was extremely prolific and wrote in total more than 610 works, many of which are still performed today.  Compared to his contemporaries Bach, Telemann...
more

Georg Frideric Handel was a composer from the Baroque period. Handel wrote primarily music-dramatic works: 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, which comes to a total amount of almost 2000 arias! Furthermore, he composed English, Italian and Latin sacred music, serenades and odes. Among his instrumental music are several organ concertos, concerti grossi, overtures, oboe sonatas and violinsonates, along with many solo works for harpsichord and organ.

Together with Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in the same year (1685), Handel is viewed as one of the greatest composers of his time. He was extremely prolific and wrote in total more than 610 works, many of which are still performed today.

Compared to his contemporaries Bach, Telemann and Scarlatti, Handel was by far the most cosmopolitan. When Handel was a child, his father, who was a surgeon at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels, imagined a juridical career for him. But his musical talents did not go unnoticed at the court, which forced the father to let him study music. In Hamburg, Handel befriended Mattheson. Together they visited Buxtehude, the greatest organ player of his time, in 1703 (two years before Bach did). At that time, Handel was already an excellent musician, but it wasn't until his stay in Italy - the land of opera - that his talents and skills truly started to flourish. Back in Germany, he received a position at the court of Hannover, where the noblemen had a connection to the British throne. Thanks to these connections, Handel decided to move to London, after which a puzzling history of intrigues and political games started. For example, it is unclear what the exact political message of his famous Water Music is, which was composed for a boat ride on the river Thames by King George. Initially, Handel focused on Italian opera during his stay in London, but from the 1730s onwards he started composing English spoken oratorios, with the celebrated Messiah at its peak.


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Press

Absolutely listen to it!
hifi & records, 01-3-2013

As fresh and exciting a recording as you would expect from Al Ayre Espanol. A must-have recording.
Early Music Review, 01-10-2012

A please to listen to 
Tom Tijdschrift oude muziek , 03-3-2012

Play album Play album
Disc #1
01.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 1, in G major: A tempo giusto
01:49
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
02.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 1, in G major: Allegro
01:38
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
03.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 1, in G major: Adagio
05:39
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
04.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 1, in G major: Allegro
02:37
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
05.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 1, in G major: Allegro
00:04
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
06.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 8, in c minor: Allemande
05:42
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
07.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 8, in c minor: Grave - Andante allegro
03:24
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
08.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 8, in c minor: Adagio
01:30
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
09.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 8, in c minor: Siciliana
03:59
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
10.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 8, in c minor: Allegro
01:08
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
11.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 6, in g minor: Larghetto e affettuoso
04:01
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
12.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 6, in g minor: Allegro ma non troppo
01:36
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
13.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 6, in g minor: Musette: Larghetto
06:01
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
14.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 6, in g minor: Allegro
02:48
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
15.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 6, in g minor: Allegro
02:18
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo

Disc #2
01.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 10, in d minor: Ouverture
04:12
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
02.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 10, in d minor: Air
04:42
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
03.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 10, in d minor: Allegro
02:56
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
04.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 10, in d minor: Allegro
02:34
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
05.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 10, in d minor: Allegro moderato
02:01
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
06.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 5, in D major: [Ouverture]
03:56
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
07.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 5, in D major: Presto
02:05
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
08.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 5, in D major: Largo
02:53
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
09.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 5, in D major: Allegro
02:11
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
10.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 5, in D major: Menuet: Un poco larghetto
03:19
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
11.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 11, in A major: Andante larghetto, e staccato
05:29
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
12.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 11, in A major: Allegro
01:40
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
13.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 11, in A major: Largo e staccato
01:55
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
14.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 11, in A major: Andante
04:46
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
15.
Grand Concerto op. 6 no. 11, in A major: Allegro
05:09
(Georg Friedrich Händel) Al Ayre Español, Eduardo López Banzo
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