A wealth of artists – both established and emerging – make up this Brilliant Classics release, once again representing astonishing value for money. Handel’s orchestral music is performed by a variety of German chamber groups, including the Händel-Festspielorchester Halle, and the ensuing oboe and organ concertos are played by Baroque experts City of London Sinfonia. The trio sonatas feature L’École d’Orphée, which boasts players drawn from some of the leading British Baroque orchestras, including the Academy of Ancient Music. The consistently high quality of playing continues with Roberto Loreggian performing Handel’s harpsichord music, and legendary soprano Arleen Augér singing his German arias. Sir David Willcocks conducts the Holland Boys’ Choir in the Coronation Anthems, including the ever popular Zadok the Priest, and arguably Handel’s most famous oratorio, Messiah, is performed by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, conducted by Stephen Cleobury. An excellent gift idea, this release represents superb value for money and hours of listening pleasure.

The most comprehensive Handel Edition on the market!

Brilliant Classics continues its famous Composer Edition series with one of the giants of the Baroque, George Frideric Handel, the celebrated German who settled in London. Having absorbed the German and Italian styles of his time he formed his own distinctive musical language, which, while following the current fashions and audience preferences, retained his own deep humanity and inner power.

Handel embraced all musical genres of his time, and this Edition, while not “Complete”, presents a substantial and representative oeuvre: 12 complete oratorios, cantatas, Odes, Anthems, Arias, Duets, the complete chamber music, the complete keyboard works, the complete organ concertos, oboe concertos, the complete Concerti Grossi, the Water Music and Fireworks Music: a musical feast of grandeur and intimacy, of joy and sorrow, of pomp and grace, of instrumental and vocal brilliance and of every emotion a human being is capable of excellent performances by leading ensembles, soloists and choirs: Concerto Köln, Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum, English Chamber Orchestra, King’s College Choir and many others.