01. - 04. Organ Concerto No.5 in F major, HWV.293 (op.4 no.5) [8'37]
05. - 07. Organ Concerto No.6 in B-flat major, HWV.294 (op.4 no.6) [12'08]
08. - 11. Organ Concerto No.11 in G minor, HWV.310 (op.7 no.5). [12'20]
12. - 15. Organ Concerto No.8 in A major, HWV.307 (op.7 no.2) [14'07]
16. - 20. Organ Concerto No.13 in F major, HWV.312 (op.7 no.7) [15'43]
Daniel Chorzempa- organ, Concerto Amsterdam conducted by Jaap Schroder
Pentatone PTC5186104 (recorded September 1975 by Philips; LP issued 1976, this SACD issued 2002)
(16bit/44.1kHz flac and scans)
Recording venue: Old Catholic Parish Church of St Anne and St Mary, Haalem
Recording engineer: not disclosed; Producer: Willhelm Hellweg
One of Pentatone's series of reissues of Philips' Surround Sound recordings - 4-channel and 2-channel SACD and 2-channel CD - here is the second volume of four discs of Handel's Organ Concertos. These are period-instrument performances with a beautifully warm-sounding orchestra. Chorzempa chose the modest 18th Century Dutch 2-manual organ as being exactly right for Handel's registrations. Although the excellent detail and acoustic recovery of the SACD is a bit muted in the CD layer, the sound is still excellent in this remastering from 1975 with perfect balance between organ and orchestra.
As Handel never prepared the op.7 concertos for publication, there are many gaps and Chorzempa makes judicious choices to fill in these gaps. The Organ Concerto HWV.294 (op.4 no.6) is, of course, often included in collections in the version for harp and orchestra, which I usually prefer, but in this recording, Chorzempa makes an excellent case for the organ version.