Handel was keen to compose such works: they were not only popular in England at the time, but could also be interpolated into performances of larger choral works (Handel's English oratorios, for example).

This release presents concertos Seven to Twelve, the Boston Baroque's highly acclaimed performances of the previous numbers already available in the catalogue. The period band, here, present a clean and mellow sound, and interpret engagingly, providing liveliness, virtuosity and majestic introspection throughout. The Seventh concerto opens the disc arrestingly, its brief but weighty Largo introduction moving into an enticing fugal subject, here played with much spirit. The Largo's three phrases are individually characterised and clearly defined, all imbued with warmth and refinement.

The band does not strive for effect or overt aesthetic beauty, but presents in Handel's simple, noble compositions a sense of space and a sense of truth. The Ninth concerto is glorious, the opening Largo harmonically searching and sparely textured, string lines polarised high and low, the following Allegro bursting into comic instrumental suggestions of bird calls. The fugal lines of the fourth movement, another Allegro, draw from the band a rich sound and athletic bowing.

In the Tenth concerto, the syncopations of the French-overture style opening are sonically splendid, variations of articulation arresting the ear, while the concluding three Allegros are slick and thrilling, the solo violin lines of the central one white-hot in their virtuosity.

Accompanying this disc, Martin Pearlman's linear notes provide a thoughtful and informative commentary on this essential music.

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