Handel, Georg Friedrich: Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin, 1720.

Handel, Georg Friedrich: Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin, 1720. Ludger Remy, Harpsichord. Recorded in 2001 and 2002, in Germany. Engineer: Gisela Kniemeyer. 124+ minutes (2-disc set). CPO 999 940.

The 1720 publication of these harpsichord compositions involved a situation that today seems odd and almost funny. Apparently, a number of Handel's solo-harpsichord manuscripts had been copied for use as teaching aids (the composer gave harpsichord lessons to a number of people) and some of them ended up in the possession of a rather unscrupulous publisher in Amsterdam. It was announced that the publisher intended to publish them without the composer's permission, and apparently without paying him.

Handel learned of this and executed a preemptive strike by immediately self-publishing them. He made a formal announcement of his intention by having a special ad (complete with accusations of unscrupulous behavior on the part of certain criminal elements "abroad") printed in the Daily Courant, London's largest newspaper at that time.

The counterattack worked, with Handel getting his own version into print a year before the pilfered versions could appear. Ironically, the popularity of the composer's harpsichord works was such that assorted manuscript versions had circulated throughout Europe for decades. From a reading of Handel's Courant ad it is pretty clear that he did what he did for reasons of principle more than for the rather small amount of money earned by the publication of solo-instrument music. Just as ironically, Handel's first foray into the harpsichord manuscript publishing business occurred just as he was losing interest in composing solo music for the instrument.

Historical tidbits notwithstanding, what we have here with this two-disc set are eight little masterpieces for harpsichord that will satisfy both musical and sound-quality interests. Whether one listens in straight stereo or runs the material through a good ambiance extractor or synthesizer, the results should be superb.

This is the first recording I have reviewed that involved the newly built, Dunlavy Cantata-anchored system in my smaller listening room. (This room is being expanded to a considerably larger size, but for music of this scale the existing smaller environment works just fine.) In this space, the sound was sensational, with the kind of close-up intimacy and detail that the harpsichord demands.

As things now stand, my center-channel speaker is on top of a hopefully soon to be replaced RPTV. Because of this extra height (centered 14 inches higher than the 39-inch high horizontal center line between the Cantata centers, with the listening distance being 9 feet) any musical use of a synthesized center-channel feed is pointless. Fortunately, in this room the Cantatas image precisely by themselves when listened to from anywhere near the sweet spot, and their current six-foot spacing keeps the solo-instrument soundstage focused and coherent even from locations at either end of my futon.

I tried a number of standard concert-hall simulations with the Yamaha DSP-A1 processor/amp used with this system, but ended up employing the a "jazz/club" simulation called "The Bottom Line." While one might question the use of this digitized environment for Baroque harpsichord music, one must remember that the environmental simulations Yamaha has created will work differently in different playback rooms. In addition, a room designed for good jazz sound should work quite well for good sound in other musical formats.

I sometimes think that it would be better if Yamaha had named the various environments they created for their processors differently ("large rectangular hall" "fan-shaped medium hall," "small recital studio," etc.) and also not included so many different options. In addition, I use no more than a half dozen of the 22 music-related simulations the processor offers and find most of the remaining options to be hair-splitting overkill. Of course, the Dolby Pro Logic II (music) option available with the RX-Z1 in my main system tends to trump most of the Yamaha hall simulations with music of this scale. However, in a situation like this, where the center speaker is located too high up in relation to the left/right mains, the DSP simulations come in real handy. Besides, the DSPA1 in my middle system does not have Dolby Pro Logic II. In any case, this two-disc set is a must for any harpsichord or H0aadel enthusiast, and its sound quality leaves nothing to be desired.