Reviews THE ENGLISH CONCERT

OpusKlassiek December 2023 : CD Händel: Messiah - Lucy Crowe (sopraan), Alex Potter (countertenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bas), The English Concert & Choir o.l.v. John Nelson
….Dankzij The English Concert & Choir in topvorm en een fabuleus solistenteam horen we de Messiah als een lichtend voorbeeld van klankschoonheid, transparantie, stemvoering, dictie, souplesse, balans en - zeker niet in de laatste plaats! - gloedvolle expressie. Ook de verbeelding in de verschillende scènes kluistert de luisteraar aan zijn stoel, worden de transities van majeur naar mineur met het nodige reliëf omgeven, is de ritmische precisie geheel in lijn met de tekstbeleving (zoals in ‘Lift up your heads, o ye gates'). …. Prachtig, deze uitgave! Aart van der Wal - Recensie

OpusKlassiek November 2023 : CD Händel Serse
…Na de door mij in in juli van het vorig jaar besproken oratorium La Resurrezione (klik hier) presenteert Harry Bickett met zijn English Concert en solisten opnieuw een voltreffer, want die conclusie kan van deze uitvoering van Serse met een gerust hart worden getrokken. …. Dit is samengevat absoluut vocaal topniveau in alle geledingen dat een bij wijze van spreken een schier ademloze luisterbeleving mogelijk maakt.
Even enthousiast ben ik over het instrumentale aandeel van The English Concert met als rots in de branding Harry Bickett, een van de (inmiddels vele) dirigenten die in de historisende uitvoeringspraktijk zijn sporen heeft verdiend. Hij laat zijn eveneens geweldige instrumentalisten met de vocalisten mééademen, een verder bewijs van zijn kennis en ervaring op dit terrein, met als slotnoot dat het gehele ensemble opnametechnisch bijzonder fraai is vastgelegd. Een sublieme uitgave van een van Händels meest dramatische opera's!  Aart van der Wal - Recensie

Planethugill.com 22/09/2023 : Drawing us into Handel's magical world: Amadigi di Gaula
……From the opening notes of the overture it was clear that Kristian Bezuidenhout took quite a dramatic view of the music and he conjured rich drama from his forces - strings, two oboes (doubling recorders), bassoon, two harpsichords and theorbo. But what seemed to matter was the way that the instrumental performers were engaged in the drama and thus drew us in. … the glorious aria 'Pen tiranna' with its solo oboe and bassoon parts. Cutting sang this with remarkable power, combining passion with a superbly vibrant line, supported by lovely richness in the orchestra. …
There were plenty of superb individual instrumental contributions, oboist Emma Black shone in the many fine obbligato moments with bassoonist Niels Collins Coppalle also having moments to shine. Handel's use of trumpet was restrained, but when he did use it then we had great fun and Mark Bennett did too. And throughout there was fine continue from Joseph Crouch (cello), Sergio Bucheli (theorbo), Tom Foster (harpsichord). Yet this was one of those performance where every single instrumentalist contributed and the whole was riveting.
This was one of those performances that engaged from the first moment and never let go. Yes, the singing and playing was superb, but more than that, there was a feeling of engagement and sense of relish in the music. Kristian Bezuidenhout was a very active director, he and his performers really drew us into Handel's magical world. Robert Hugill – Review in full

Bachtrack 8/06/2023 : Top Mozart from Kristian Bezuidenhout and The English Concert
For Mozart’s brooding Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, Bezuidenhout summoned depth and intensity, paying equal attention to the subtleties of the period instrument sound to work alongside his delicate shaping, clean articulation and controlled tension on the fortepiano. There was some quite superb playing in the orchestra, sometimes sighing, sometimes growling. There was immense warmth and character in the woodwinds, serenity in the strings, and spot-on precision throughout.
Mozart’s Symphony no. 41 in C major, “Jupiter” - the orchestra now standing and moving freely, almost dancing at times, and Bezuidenhout giving himself free rein to roam around the floor, leaning in towards the orchestra when he felt the urge. It was a red-blooded affair, but the clarity and sensitivity of individual lines still sang through, revealing inner detail that I hadn’t noticed in other performances. The third movement felt more like a Scherzo than a Menuetto, but it still kept its stately feel, and the finale was taken at a devilish pace, neatly held together with crisp articulation and precision, relentless and uplifting right to the end.
Regardless of which camp I’m in, this was exactly my kind of Mozart. Mark Thomas – Review in full

The Arts desk 8/06/2023: Bezuidenhout, The English Concert, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - Mozart spring-cleaned - Period styling for favourite pieces – but without the cobwebs
…Together, they stripped the varnish, and shook the dust, from two treasures whose sheer familiarity can render them in some way inaudible. The Jupiter Symphony, prefaced by the piano concerto no. 20 in D minor, emerged from their late-spring clean fresh, sparkling and as thrillingly original as they should always sound. Forget those irresolvable questions of “authenticity”. Zest, panache and excitement, which we enjoyed in abundance, ought to be enough.
…The fortepiano timbre, however, did alter the balance of his dialogue with the excellent English Concert strings, impressively led throughout by Nadja Zwiener. Their interplay had a dramatic, egalitarian give-and-take not always present with the sumptuous, lingering resonance of a modern grand. …
Jupiter Symphony -… Lithe, brisk and bouncy, the English Concert – with all the strings now standing – skipped and punched through the opening allegro with panche.
Buoyancy and effervescence returned with a delicious minuet, after which the interwoven fugato motifs of the torrential finale showcased a wonderfully cohesive outfit on peak form. … Bezuidenhout found relentless momentum but also crystal-clear articulation. This luminous music-making did not entomb Mozart in some “period” crypt, but set him free to dance through the endless June twilight. Boyd Tonkin – Review in full

The Guardian 3/06/2023 : CD Serse from Harry Bicket
As a conductor of baroque music, as well as a harpsichordist, Harry Bicket ranges widely, with Handel at the heart of his repertoire. His latest Handel recording on Linn, with his English Concert, is Serse (Xerxes), which bowls along energetically, the orchestral playing especially rewarding. Fiona Maddocks – Review in full

The Guardian 1/03/2023 : Handel of grace and elan as Bicket takes us back to 1749 London
This recreation of the composer’s benefit concert for the Foundling Hospital was beautifully delivered.
Harry Bicket and the English Concert have recently embarked on an extraordinary and ambitious project entitled Handel for All, the aim of which is to eventually make their own filmed performances of the composer’s entire output available free online. …
Bicket is a wonderful Handelian and the performances were exemplary in their grace, enthusiasm and elan. Beautifully played, the Fireworks Music swung exuberantly between ceremonial grandeur and elegant refinement….. . Tim Ashley – Review in full

OpusKlassiek Juli 2022 : CD Händel: La Resurrezione HWV 47
…Niets dan lof voor deze uitvoering waarin vrijwel alles volmaakt op zijn plek valt. Als het toch als volbloed theater is bedoeld, dan ook als zodanig uitvoeren, moet Bicket hebben gedacht. Waarmee hij in de voetsporen treedt van een eerder, overal geroemde uitvoering: die van Marc Minkowski met o.a. Les Musiciens du Louvre op het Archiv-label… Wat beide uitvoeringen met elkaar gemeen hebben is dat zowel het dramatisch als lyrisch momentum geen moment verslapt, mede dankzij de formidabele solisten en het uitmuntend spelende orkest.
Zowel de vijf solisten, als The English Concert kennen dit repertoire door en door wat zich ook aan de luisteraar uitbetaalt: de souplesse waarmee wordt gezongen en gespeeld is net zo fenomenaal als de afwisselend natuurlijke en contrasterende transities van het extroverte naar het introverte. IJzersterk is ook Bickets idiomatische aanpak die een perfecte balans biedt tussen het theatrale profane in de aria's en het meer beschouwende of treurende seculiere, wat zich veelal in de recitatieven afspeelt. In dit opzicht is Minkowski (soms nog) een fractie theatraler, vuriger, temperamentvoller. Wat daarbij wel vaststaat is dat beide lezingen de absolute topklasse vertegenwoordigen. Aart van der Wal - Artikel

L’Echo 21/05/2022: CD “La Resurrezione" de Haendel - The English Concert poursuit sa quête d’un Haendel rendu à l’essentiel -  L'interprétation par The English Concert et son chef Harry Bicket de la "La Resurrezione" de Haendel vient bousculer le palmarès pour se mesurer aux grands Minkowski, Haïm et Koopman. …Ici l’instrumentation d’une grande délicatesse et la subtilité de la basse continue – magnifique violoncelle! – servent admirablement le texte, riche en récitatifs et en arie portés par cinq remarquables solistes britanniques….  L’équilibre absolu des timbres et la transparence musicale se refusant à toute esbrouffe hissent cette version au sommet. Stéphane Renard - Article

Gramophone July 2021 : CD Rodelinda
…This new version, recorded with Covid-enforced distancing in St John’s Smith Square, strikes me as even better. The singing is first-rate, while Harry Bicket has an unerring ear for pacing and instrumental colour. He and the ever-responsive English Concert relish without indulgence the sensuous beauty of Handel’s textures: in, say, Bertarido’s ‘Dove sei’ (an instant hit and, as ‘Art thou troubled?’, a Victorian favourite), or Rodelinda’s tragic ‘Se ’l mio duol’, exquisitely scored with recorders and bassoons. Throughout the opera the players are always dramatic partners and animators, never mere accompanists.  Richard Wigmore - Review in full

Opusklassiek.nl Juli 2021 : CD Händel: Rodelinda
… het klonk van begin tot eind werkelijk voortreffelijk, met de solisten in een volmaakt perspectief tot het orkest en de instrumentale balans als om door een ringetje te halen. Dat is het vaak begin van een succesformule, maar het is de uitvoering zelf die wat mij betreft van een ongekend niveau is. Ongekend, omdat zelfs het naar mijn gevoel door de critici sterk overschatte album van Archiv-Produktion met Kermes, Mijjanovic, Davislim, Lemieus, Prina en Il Complesso Barocco onder leiding van Alan Curtis dit extreem hoge niveau absoluut niet haalt….. Kortom, we hebben te maken met een superieur album. Zo simpel kan het zijn. Aart van der Wal - Recensie

Bachtrack 27/03/2018: Bicket and The English Concert leave Carnegie Hall thrilled
The English Concert’s show at Carnegie Hall was a concert performance: we were left with Handel’s glorious music and some glorious singing.
What a great band The English Concert is, and what a wise leader Harry Bicket is. Nary a scratchy violin nor an off-key trumpet; only bright, alert playing with judicious embellishments and a superb sense of drama. One regretted the cuts of whole arias, but coming in at over three hours with intermissions, there was plenty of Handel, splendidly performed.  Robert Levine - Review in full

Newyorkclassicalreview 26/03/2018: A Handel afternoon to remember with English Concert’s “Rinaldo”
First, the bad news: one will have to wait until April of next year to hear the English Concert and conductor Harry Bicket bring another Handel opera to Carnegie Hall. And that is indeed unfortunate, because their Sunday performance of Rinaldo was so wonderful that the pain of its concluding was nearly as acute as the pleasure of its hearing.
The Concert’s Handel performances have been among the best classical music experiences over the past several years, and so one entered the hall Sunday afternoon with a sense of anticipation. What the performers delivered vastly exceeded that.
… Here, Armida’s aria “Vo’far guerra” is interspersed with a virtuosic harpsichord solo. This added tremendous art to her desire for war, especially in Tom Foster’s astonishing performance. His playing was fleet, liquid, and full of panache with some exciting harmonic excursions. It was so fine that, as the audience applauded the whole performance at the end of the act, so did the Concert members applaud Foster.
Another exceptional instrumental moment was the Act I scene in a garden. As Almirena sings “Augelleti,” birds chirp around her, and one of them breaks into simply magical song. This was played by recordist Tabea Debus, and was so full of beauty and deep, natural musicality that one listened in more than a little awe. So fine was the instrumental playing, that in Rinaldo’s aria “Or la tromba,” one’s attention was drawn away from Davies’ excellent singing to Mark Bennett’s trumpet playing. His sound was brilliant and on the valveless version his intonation was perfect and his trills were jaw-dropping.
… the orchestral playing to introduce “Ah, crudel,” was so expressive that one almost wanted a delay before Armida’s entrance. But of course that turned out to be yet another ravishing moment. George Grella – Review in full

NYTimes 26/03/2018: Handel’s ‘Rinaldo,’ in Concert and Profoundly Authentic
The place was packed for a concert performance of Handel’s opera “Rinaldo.” It was the latest in a series of nearly annual Handel performances at Carnegie by Harry Bicket and his English Concert ensemble; since 2013, this has become a beloved ritual for many.…by embracing every element of this work and performing it so sensitively, the musicians made the opera’s humanity and greatness come through. Authenticity matters, more than ever.  Anthony Tommasini - Review in full

Financial Times 15/03/2018: Rinaldo, Barbican, London — ludicrous plot, lovely music
A concert performance of Handel’s opera featured fine singing and playing - … There was a full house for this latest instalment in the English Concert’s annual series of Handel operas. … The English Concert and Harry Bicket, its artistic director, are as lively as any of the period bands. Bicket’s Handel sits satisfyingly midway between the delicate Baroque playing of some and gutsy, driving rhythms at the opposite extreme. Richard Fairman - Review in full

Bachtrack 14/03/2018 : Handel’s calling card Rinaldo still opening doors three centuries on
…The English Concert was alert and stylish throughout, with notable contributions from the recorders in Armelina’s Arcadian “Augelletti”, and oboe and bassoon in Armida’s Act Two “Ah crudel”. The big harpsichord ritornelli in Armida’s “Vo’ far guerra” that closes Act Two were stunningly dispatched by Tom Foster, and got the biggest cheer of the night. Roy Westbrook - Review in full

OperaWire 14/03/2018 :: Rinaldo: Harry Bicket’s Interpretation brings Harry Potter’s Magic to Madrid    
Kings of it All - Top laurels of the performance, however, went to Harry Bicket and the English Concert. …, this is one of the world’s leading exponents of baroque music and every member of this noticeably mixed age ensemble played their original instruments with concerto soloist avidity. Contrabass virtuoso Christine Sticher, viola da gamba guru Joseph Crouch and bassoon wizard Alberto Grazzi were particularly impressive. Instrumental sections such as the Christian march and battaglia sinfonia were “al trionfo” with real “furore” in the passionate playing. Bicket’s overall reading tended to be more measured elegance than cheap-effect ostentation, but there were still plenty of fireworks, either royal or rube, when required. Ole’s all around. Jonathan Sutherland - Article

Operatoday.com 14/03/2018 : Rinaldo: The English Concert at the Barbican Hall
….Bicket’s direction was not overly demonstrative but small gestures made their mark and there was telling control of cadential hiatuses and resolutions. Understandably, in the light of the terrific instrumental playing we enjoyed, Bicket simply allowed his musicians to demonstrate their excellence, none more so than harpsichordist Tom Foster whose flamboyant rendition of the breath-taking virtuosic improvisatory interludes within Armida’s vengeful war-mongering at the close of Act 2 received perhaps the loudest applause of the evening.  Claire Seymour - Article

Classicalsource 13/03/2018 : Handel’s Rinaldo at Barbican Hall – Harry Bicket directs The English Concert with Iestyn Davies, Joélle Harvey, Jane Archibald & Sasha Cooke
…. the English Concert conjured the drama out of the music vividly under Henry Bicket’s fastidious direction. A broad, dignified pace to the Overture set an almost solemn tone for the story of the Christian knights, Rinaldo and Goffredo’s siege of Jerusalem set during the First Crusade. Instrumental support in the succession of arias thereafter was astute, ….. This was probably the most persuasive and animated Handel opera performance that the English Concert has given at the Barbican to date, even compared with the other magic opera, Orlando, in 2016, so here’s hoping that this is a tradition to which Handelians may continue to look forward. Curtis Rogers - Article

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