RECORDS / Double Play: Risk compensation: Bach refreshed and Handel's Theodora

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos - The Brandenburg Consort / Roy Goodman (Hyperion CDA 66711/2)

I HAVE heard more polished Brandenburg cycles, on old as well as modern instruments, but the freshness of these performances more than makes up for occasional rough edges. The horns wobble and splutter in the second allegro of No 1, and the trumpet sometimes teeters precariously in the solo writing of No 2, but it all sounds alive. It feels more like a period-instrument concert performance, 18th-century warts and all, than a well-covered studio version.

And while Roy Goodman and his Brandenburg Consort are stylistically informed, there is nothing self-conscious about the playing. The sharply pointed phrasing in the Andante of No 2 may sound a touch contentious at first, but I adjusted to it quickly, especially at Goodman's judicious tempo - flowing but not too fast (not a hint of Musica Antiqua Cologne's Bach-on-amphetamine here). Other decisions - the placing of No 4's 'Flauti d'echo' backstage, the use of the Largo from the G major Violin Sonata as a slow movement for No 3 - produce equally natural- sounding results. Those who think restoration work goes better with a little affection should find it heartening. STEPHEN JOHNSON

THIS is one set the Brandenburg Consort had to get right. They do rather more than that - I like the lived-in sound of these performances, the vigorous sense of collective endeavour. More than any of the recent 'period' recordings, the feeling here is finally one of liberation: from all courtly associations, from all the years of metrical manicuring. In spirit at least, we are back to Bach at the moment of conception.

Speeds are free-range but stylish, the colours every bit as rich and varied as their composer dared to make them. The russet horns of No 1 (very homespun) are back in the open air, bracing themselves for a brisk canter through the second trio. The preceding Polacca demonstrates the group's spontaneous and flexible manner, its sudden, eminently danceable animations beautifully caught. No 2 reminds us just how brilliantly Bach engages the upper registers of his trumpet, oboes, and recorders - every line here is alive and eager. Goodman's own violin solos duly ignite the finale here, and in No 5, Alistair Ross's harpsichord playing is dizzying. Truly, I felt more of a participant than a listener. EDWARD SECKERSON

Handel: Theodora - Lorraine Hunt, Drew Minter, Jennifer Lane, Jeffrey Thomas, David Thomas, UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan (Harmonia Mundi HMU 907060.62 - three CDs)

THE TEXT is laughable, the characters too good to live, but as one treasurable air follows another, the triumph of Christian love over Roman arrogance is frankly the least of one's concerns. Here is mature Handel, where truth has a less florid manner and the power of prayer lies in fewer notes and loftier thoughts: less display, more inner light.

So does Nicholas McGegan see it - the light, that is? As ever he is a buoyant, unobtrusive motivator: he has a lean, keen choir and quick-reflexed players. The singing is honest and fleshy, though David Thomas is inclined to take the 'plain-speaking' delivery to extremes.

I have some doubts too about Drew Minter's soft-grained countertenor in the role of Theodora's lover Didymus. He is affecting in his tenderness, but is he Roman Officer material where heroics are called for? His Theodora, Lorraine Hunt sings her visionary solos with great generosity - she will make a Christian and a man of him yet. ES

SERIOUS record labels do not indulge in overt one-upmanship - or so one would have thought. But witness Harmonia Mundi congratulating themselves over their new Theodora - nearly 55 minutes more music than in the Teldec recording, they proclaim. It is all true, but when it comes to making a case for Handel's music the choice between Teldec/Harnoncourt and Harmonia Mundi/McGegan is not quite so straightforward.

Harnoncourt's Didymus, Jochen Kowalski, is a big plus - a stronger and more secure counter-tenor than Drew Minter (Harmonia Mundi) - but McGegan's Lorraine Hunt is a more stylish Theodora than her Teldec counterpart, Roberta Alexander. It is in theatrical excitement that the Teldec/Harnoncourt scores. McGegan is more intimate, but he is also relatively laid-back and slow-paced. I also find his chorus disappointing, and the recording places them rather backwardly.

If completeness is what matters, it has to be McGegan - for the moment at least. But listen to Harnoncourt in the Act Two dungeon scenes for a taste of real drama. Somewhere between the two lies the ideal Theodora. SJ