Under the baton of Graham Abbott, one of our greatest Handelians, this tired old coupling gleams anew. Ideally sized for this repertoire, the 47-piece Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra plays on modern instruments but with the textural clarity of Baroque-styled phrasing and performing practices.

Bright strings and well-balanced brass and winds bring commanding flamboyance to La Réjouissance in Fireworks with rhythmic drive maintaining interest. The refined, springy quality of the menuets and other regal dance forms highlight the contrasts between delicate winds and fuller orchestral sections with timpani. In the F Major Water Music suite the ear is drawn to the lively horn ornamentation, while the D Major hornpipe’s impressive antiphonal trumpets and horns are the mark of distinction in Abbott’s reading, full of personality and an airy charm that buoys us down the Thames.

My taste in this repertoire veers towards risk-takingly earthy period-instrument performances, particularly those of Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel (who would have brought the French onion dip to the river party), and Canada’s Aradia Ensemble, both recordings including the third suite in G Major. Abbott and the TSO may lack the blazing energy and thrilling variety of these readings, but the performance is never tentative and certainly never dull. They conjure an appropriately resplendent atmosphere throughout.

There is much to recommend the tried and true approach of Abbott and the TSO – clean, light and classic in the vein of Charles Mackerras’ Water Music. Hobart’s Federation Concert Hall provides a sympathetic acoustic.

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