Both Bach and Handel played the organ and the harpsichord, but it was Handel who created the genre of the organ concerto, whilst Bach did likewise for the harpsichord. The first known performances were as interludes during productions of Deborah and Esther in 1733 and there is evidence that others of Handel's organ concertos were first heard under similar circumstances. The annotation of the original LP issue of these discs has been sensibly replaced: the recording is no longer described as ''complete'', which, containing only the Concertos of Opp. 4 and 7, it is not, and Op. 7 No. 1 remains shorn of two of its movements. Nor is it now claimed that Handel may have used a swell pedal, or that Tachezi spontaneously extemporized the ad libitum movements; did he, or didn't he? What remains though is the recording of the music itself, a veritable curate's egg with palatable alternatives on the menu both then and now. The transfer to Compact Discs leaves the idiosyncrasies, faithfully noted by Roger Fiske in his original review, intact; none of these mars Hurford's exemplary recordings with the Concertgebouw CO/Rifkin (also at mid-price in Decca's Serenata Series), in which his ad libitum choices are of music by Handel and others, not his own improvisations. If you are prepared to run to a three-disc set (and at full-price), offering a genuinely 'complete' archive of Handel's organ concertos, and prefer a soloist who accepts Handel's invitation to do his own thing—and is very good at doing it, Ton Koopman's recording with members of Amsterdam Baroque is the clear choice.'