Reviewed by Liz Knowles

Handel is of course best known for his choral music - oratorios such as 'The Messiah' and anthems such as "Zadok The Priest" - but he also wrote instrumental music for ceremonial - the "Royal Fireworks", the "Water Music", and incidental music for royal weddings - some of which makes up the concerti included on this disk. A concerto grosso is chamber music at its best - a conversation between the participating instruments (usually strings, harpsichord or chamber organ and woodwind), with the chance for all to shine, rather than one to stand out. This probably cannot be strictly classed as sacred music, but the playing of the Northern Sinfonia of England on this budget-priced disk (first released, it seems, in 1978) is very fine, and shows off Handel's baroque brilliance in all its flamboyance.