Handel's concerti grossi Op. 3 and Op. 6 are among the most exceptional instrumental music of the baroque age, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin brings out all the brilliance of these delightful works. After three individual releases between 2019 and 2020 that all received rave reviews, PENTATONE now presents these pieces in a three-disc boxset. With their historically-informed and lively playing, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and concertmasters Georg Kallweit (Op.3) and Bernhard Forck (Op. 6) demonstrate why many consider them the best baroque ensemble of today.
The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin presented acclaimed recordings of Telemann's Miriways and Handel's Messiah in 2020. Their 2019 recording of the first six Handel Op. 6 concerti grossi was hailed as 'immaculately played ... free of fashionable eccentricities' by The Sunday Times, while Klassik praised the ensemble’s playing as 'eloquent'. Their following release with the remainder of the Op. 6 concertos (2020) was singled out by Music Web International for its unprecedented 'lightness' and 'brightness', while BBC Music Magazine concluded that the Op. 3 recording 'deserves a place in the hall of fame'. The ensemble’s first PENTATONE album, Cantata (2018) with countertenor Bejun Mehta, won a Diapason d’or.
