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George Frederic Handel Concerti Grossi Nos. 1-12, Op. 6 Adolph Busch conducting the Busch Chamber Players (Recorded 1946) VIP Records CL-1004 - Three Discs - $30.00 (US Shipping Including) 
 George Frederic Handel was born in 1685, and displayed an amazing talent for music at a very young age, studying the violin, harpsicord, oboe and organ. He travelled extensively, taking up residency permanently in England in 1726. Following the example of Corelli, he composed two sets of Concerti Grossi (Op. 3 & Op. 6). Instead of a single soloist being featured in the concerto as in the modern manner, Handel employed a group of players, or "concertino" as featured soloists. His set of 12 Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 stands as one of his greatest achievements, exhibiting extrordinary melodic invention, a wide variety of moods and rhythmic vigor. Like Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (see VIP CL-1001), Handel's Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 stand as the definitive exploration of their particular musical form. 
This landmark recording marked the culmination of the career of one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, Adolph Busch. Adolph was the second son of a violin maker in the Rheinland. His older brother Fritz went on to become a great conductor, his brother Heinrich became a composer, and his brother Herman was a cellist. As the leader of the Busch Quartet, Adolph Busch's guiding spirit was responsible for some of the greatest recordings of Beethoven String Quartets ever to enter the catalog. His violin tone was remarkable for its purity and richness, with a clear, ringing high end and a deep lower register that almost resembles the sound of a viola. Busch phrased crisply in Handel and Bach, with the melodies sung like a vocalist would sing them. Best of all, he avoided the excessive portamento and vibrato that mars many of his contemporary's recordings of baroque works. The speeds in this recording are well varied, with slow slow movements and brisk allegros. In fact, Busch's scholarly, yet heartfelt approach to Handel's landmark Concerti Grossi ensures this recording a certain timelessness that both embraces and transcends the "historically informed performance" label.
Today, Busch is remembered almost exclusively for his recordings of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms; but he was equally adept at the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Handel. Through a quirk of fate, this particular recording of Handel's Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 has never received the exposure it deserves with the listening public. It was recorded in 1946 with a revised lineup of the Busch Chamber Players. Adolph Busch was joined by Ernest Drucker on violin, his brother Herman Busch played cello and on harpsicord was the great Bach intepreter, Mieczyslaw Horszowski. The wartime shortages and subsequent recording hiatus were over, and the Busch Chamber Players were invited to record Handel's complete cycle of 12 concerti. These works had not been recorded since Boyd Neel's pioneering records nearly a decade earlier.Because of the time limitations of 78rpm records, the nearly three hours of music ended up spanning fifty sides, with the impressive stack of 25 records bound into three weighty volumes. Record stores were forbidden to sell the volumes individually, and since the market for record sets this large was limited, very few copies sold. When the long playing record era dawned, Columbia reissued the complete set on LPs, but the transfer was very poor with brittle, scratchy sound that didn't do well to put the performance across. Today, except with very experienced record collectors, this recording is all but forgotten. 
Busch's recording of Handel's Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 has had only had one limited release on CD, but the record label had great difficulty locating a complete set of records in good condition to transfer from. Inevitably, in large record sets, the disks on the outside of the volume become cracked, making the first and last records in the set very difficult to find in private collections. The record label searched high and low, and eventually, they were able to locate a single slightly worn copy of the original 78s in the possession of Adolph Busch's widow in Germany. An engineer was dispatched promptly to her home to make the transfer. The liner notes apologized for the muffled sound quality, noting that considering the fragility of shellac 78rpm records and the rarity of this particular set, the records they used for their transfer may be not only the best sounding, but the only intact set in existence. 
That was true... until now! On one of my regular rounds of the thrift stores, I discovered the records used for my transfer in the back of a St. Vincent DePaul shop hidden behind a pile of books. All three volumes were complete and in excellent shape. I brought them right home and began working on my transfer. Even though the shellac used by Columbia in the immediate post-war period wasn't the best, the records responded well to my digital sound restoration. I paid particular attention to maintaining the naturalness of the string tone and clarity of the harpsicord continuo. I'm proud to finally present this recording with the sound quality it deserves. I think you will be impressed with Busch's virtuosity and the genius of Handel. -Stephen Worth
This set of three CD's is $30.00. Shipping within the US is included. Shipping to Canada is an additional $4.00 for the set. International shipping is an additional $7.00 for the set. You can order online, using our secure PayPal links. If you don't have a PayPal account yet, sign up now using the link to the left, and you will get a $5 from PayPal for signing up. If you would prefer to send a check or money order by mail, drop me a line at... sales@vintageip.com and I will send you an order form that you can print out and mail in. 
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