Part 3 covers the Suite No.  3 in D minor, HWV 428.  Unlike the first two
suites, this one is in a minor key and has six movements instead of four:
Prelude - Allegro/Fugue - Allemande - Courante - Air con Variazioni -
Presto.

I had finished this review a couple of days ago and was ready to transmit
to the List.  Unfortunately, I somehow lost the review and all my notes
to alien cyber-bandits.  So this will be a reduced review of the D minor
Suite.

My order of preference for the nine versions is:

1. Paul Nicholson
2. Alan Cuckston
2. Anthony Newman
2. Scott Ross
5. Sviatoslav Richter
6. Sophie Yates
6. Blandine Verlet
8. Glenn Gould
8. Murray Perahia

Paul Nicholson continues to offer idiomatic and highly enjoyable
performances; he's even better in the D minor than in the previous two
suites.  Most distinctive about his D minor is the exuberance he gives
to the faster movements and the Air's variations; the interpretations are
loaded with drive and irresistable rhythmic flows.  My sole reservation is
that Nicholson could have been more emotionally involved in the Air's basic
melody which is one gorgeous piece of music.

Anthony Newman uses the hesitate-stop-and chop approach and it works quite
well.  Although he's too aggressive in the Prelude, his Allemande is the
best I've heard as he varies the pulse very effectively and gives the piece
great diversity, bounce, and bite.

Alan Cuckston doesn't reach the heights at any point, but his performance
is entirely delightful in a mainstream mode.  Scott Ross provides the best
Prelude and Allegro/Fugue of the group; the urgency in each of these two
movements is stunning.  Richter tends to be a little too smooth in most of
the movements, but his Air's theme is as improvisatory in nature as I've
heard and clearly a thinking-person's interpretation.

There's nothing unappealing about the performances of Sophie Yates and
Blandine Verlet but also nothing particularly memorable except that Verlet
uses about the same tempo for the Courante as the Allemande.  From my
perspective, this is a cardinal performance sin in that it reduces the
Suite's diversity.

Glenn Gould is quite disappointing.  His Prelude is even more aggressive
than Newman's and the remainder is unexceptional.

Murray Perahia is great if you're looking for sleek, romantic, and soft
performances.  Since the subject is Handel and not Liszt or Brahms, I'll
pass on Perahia's readings.  It simply isn't Handel, and it isn't good.  It
also is not the same Perahia who gave us an excellent set of Bach's English
Suites.  To my ears, Perahia is just messing around with great music.

Update:  Paul Nicholson leads the charge after three suites.  He has the
joy and exuberance of the fast movements in his blood and also does quite
well with the slower and more emotionally rich movements.  The sole artist
who has been as good is van Asperen, but he doesn't show up again until HWV
430.

Part 4 will address Suite No.  4 in E minor.  Perahia will be replaced by
Keith Jarrett; whether that will constitute an improvement is open to
question.  Gavrilov replaces Richter; that likely will not be an
improvement.

Don Satz
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