Barsanti, Francesco - Edinburgh 1742: Barsanti & Handel - Whelan, Peter

---

---

The popular Ensemble Marsyas returns with a diverse programme of concerti, wind music and Scottish songs by composers Francesco Barsanti and George Frideric Handel, centred around the music composed for The Edinburgh Musical Society. Horn soloists Alec Frank-Gemmill and Joseph Walters take centre stage in Handel’s Concerto for French horns, exemplifying the extraordinary vogue for horn music at this time. Timpanist Alan Emslie joins them for Barsanti’s Concerti grossi Op. 3, an unusual concertino comprising timpani and natural horns. Barsanti’s four ‘Old Scots Tunes’, notable as one of the first examples of Scottish Traditional music to be faithfully transcribed, introduces fiddle player Colin Scobie. Completing the programme is Handel’s aria ‘Sta nell’Ircana’ from Alcina, featuring mezzo-soprano Emilie Renard, and the March for wind band, HWV 346. The recording, which will be launched at the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival, is a fine addition to the group’s discography. The Edinburgh based chamber group comprises the best of a new generation of musicians specialising in early music across Europe. Ensemble Marsyas has appeared at Wigmore Hall, the Gottingen Handel Festival, the East Neuk and Lammermuir Festivals, the Great Music in Irish Houses Festival and the Zelenka Festival in Prague. Ensemble Marsyas’ previous recordings of Zelenka, Fasch and Handel each received several five star reviews. Peter Whelan is the founder and Artistic Director of Ensemble Marsyas and is in constant demand as both a performer and director. Principal bassoon in both the Scottish Chamber and Mahler Chamber Orchestras, Whelan is equally at home on modern and historical instruments with a diverse repertoire spanning over 400 years.