SESSION REPORT
BAROQUE DANCES
As part of its 25th-anniversary celebrations, the London Handel Players has recorded six of Telemann’s ‘Paris’ Quartets. Robin Stowell speaks to two of the ensemble’s members about bringing the dance elements in the music to life
Ever since its 2005 debut disc of Handel’s Trio Sonatas op.5 for the Somm label, recordings have been a central part of the work of the London Handel Players (LHP). The ensemble now celebrates its 25th anniversary with its first ‘anniversary release’, comprising six of Telemann’s ‘Paris’ Quartets.
The LHP was originally established at the turn of the millennium by violinist Adrian Butterfield (right) and keyboard player Laurence Cummings. It consisted of principal players from the London Handel Orchestra, and its initial brief was to explore, within the context of the London Handel Festival (of which Cummings and Butterfield were respectively director and associate director), the rich chamber repertoire composed by Handel and his contemporaries. It formally debuted in a festival concert in 2000 at Handel’s parish church, St George’s Hanover Square, and later performed at the Handel House Museum’s celebratory opening event in 2001. Its reach has since extended to concerts, workshops and masterclasses across Europe, Canada and North America.