Al Ayre Español & Eduardo López Banzo - Handel: Trio Sonatas Op. 2 (2019) [Official Digital Download 24/88]

Under the title I vanni occulti, ensemble Al Ayre Español, led by maestro Eduardo López Banzo, offers us its personal vision of Handel’s Sonatas Op. 2. The phrase comes from the oratorio Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Disillusion, 1707). The reference to this aria is not anecdotal, because Sonata No. 1 in this Op. 2 contains references to this music — an aspect that, hardly surprisingly, constitutes a characteristic element of the composition technique of the maestro from Halle. Over the course of his life, Handel composed 20 trio sonatas, 12 of which were published in London in two different collections: six sonatas were published in 1733 as Op. 2 (HWV 386–391) and another seven printed in 1739 as Op. 5 (HWV 396–402). In a disguised allusion to the vanitas allegory and the fleeting passage of time, Al Ayre Español presents, just three years after its recording of Op. 5 [Challenge Classics, CC72663], an introspective version of Op. 2, which completes and, at the same time, complements the group’s first rendition of Handel’s trio sonatas. The two recordings form a single project that offers the listener a passionate and impassioned, southern and Mediterranean version of this exquisite chamber music. This version is marked by the emergence, with particular expressive intensity, of the two aesthetic poles present in the chamber music universe of Handel (and of López Banzo himself): the most contained lyricism combined with the most explosive fury.

Tracklist:
01. Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 in B Minor, HWV 386a: I. Andante
02. Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 in B Minor, HWV 386a: II. Allegro ma non troppo
03. Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 in B Minor, HWV 386a: III. Largo
04. Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 in B Minor, HWV 386a: IV. Allegro
05. Sonata Op. 2 No. 2 in G Minor, HWV 387: I. Andante
06. Sonata Op. 2 No. 2 in G Minor, HWV 387: II. Allegro
07. Sonata Op. 2 No. 2 in G Minor, HWV 387: III. Largo
08. Sonata Op. 2 No. 2 in G Minor, HWV 387: IV. Allegro
09. Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 in B-Flat Major, HWV 388: I. Andante
10. Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 in B-Flat Major, HWV 388: II. Allegro
11. Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 in B-Flat Major, HWV 388: III. Larghetto
12. Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 in B-Flat Major, HWV 388: IV. Allegro
13. Sonata Op. 2 No. 4 in F Major, HWV 389: I. Larghetto
14. Sonata Op. 2 No. 4 in F Major, HWV 389: II. Allegro
15. Sonata Op. 2 No. 4 in F Major, HWV 389: III. Adagio
16. Sonata Op. 2 No. 4 in F Major, HWV 389: IV. Allegro
17. Sonata Op. 2 No. 4 in F Major, HWV 389: V. Allegro
18. Sonata Op. 2 No. 5 in G Minor , HWV 390: I. Larghetto
19. Sonata Op. 2 No. 5 in G Minor , HWV 390: II. Allegro
20. Sonata Op. 2 No. 5 in G Minor , HWV 390: III. Adagio
21. Sonata Op. 2 No. 5 in G Minor , HWV 390: IV. Allegro
22. Sonata Op. 2 No. 6 in G Minor, HWV 391: I. Andante
23. Sonata Op. 2 No. 6 in G Minor, HWV 391: II. Allegro
24. Sonata Op. 2 No. 6 in G Minor, HWV 391: III. Arioso
25. Sonata Op. 2 No. 6 in G Minor, HWV 391: IV. Allegro

Personnel:
Al Ayre Español
Eduardo López Banzo, harpsichord, direction