|
Back
Handel from first to last London
Freemason's Hall
06/02/1999 -
Freemason's Hall
2 June 1999
George Frideric Handel Jephtha
David Wilson Johnson (Zebul), Mark Padmore (Jephtha), Catherine Wyn-Rogers
(Storge), Alison Browner (Hamor), Helen Williams (Iphis), Carolyn Sampson
(Angel)
Harry Christophers (conductor), Aidan Lang (director)
The Sixteen, The Symphony of Harmony and Invention
St John's, Smith Square
7 June 1999
George Frideric Handel La Resurrezione
Deborah York (Angel), David Wilson-Johnson (Lucifer), Emma Kirkby (Mary
Magdalene), Susan Bickley (Mary Cleophas), Paul Agnew (St John)
Ivor Bolton (conductor)
St James's Baroque Players
London's glut of festivals in early June regularly has two treats for
Handel lovers, one in the Covent Garden Festival and the other in the
Lufthansa Festival. This year the two festivals interestingly delivered
excellent performances Handel's first and last oratorios within a week.
Handel wrote La Resurrezione in Rome at the age of twenty three, in
Italian for a Catholic audience at Easter, and Jephtha in London
more than fifty years later, in English for commercial production for a
mainly Anglican audience.
The differences are obvious: the music of La Resurrezione is
straightforward Italian baroque, though already with Handel's muscular
sense of harmonic development, while that of Jephtha is expressive
in a way that looks forward to romanticism. Likewise with the themes and
plots: La Resurrezione is a statement of faith and joy in the
resurrection of Christ, in a traditional format similar to a mediaeval
mystery play, with a bumptious devil and mourning women; in Jephtha
the drama is a conflict within an individual which is resolved, still
problematically, by divine intervention in a way which looks to
contemporary philosophical debates.
But both works, and almost every other oratorio Handel wrote, share an
outstanding sense of drama and emotional sympathy. "Caro figlio", the aria
in which St John recounts the mourning of Mary, the mother of Jesus, for
her dead son, has the same poignancy as "Waft her, angels", Jephtha's
prayer for the daughter he is about to sacrifice, if not its musical
sophistication.
Harry Christophers led a nearly perfect performance of Jephtha, in
the Covent Garden Festival. Mark Padmore sang with electrifying intensity
as Jephtha, perhaps only lacking the aggression that drives the old soldier
to offer a sacrifice in return for victory and then insist on killing his
daughter. Helen Williams, stepping in at the last minute for Rosa Mannion,
was an elegant Iphis, and Alison Browner sounded gorgeous and was very
moving in the normally thankless role of Hamor, Iphis' bethothed. Catherine
Wyn-Rogers wasn't quite scary enough as Storge, but also sang outstandingly
beautifully. David Wilson-Johnson was a sincere but insecure Zebul, very
effective vocally and dramatically. The Sixteen sang the amazing choruses
with a incredible sense of drama and impeccable musical skill.
The direction, using the aisles, the balcony and the space around the
orchestra, which was in the middle of the hall, was also excellent, with
Jephtha's performance of "Waft her, angels" facing Iphis across the
orchestra and the scene of the sacrifice particularly effective. The
singers acted powerfully throughout. The only flaw was the use of lurid
coloured and strobe lights which risked turning a gut-wrenching internal
drama into melodrama.
The first performance of La Resurrezione had a much more elaborate
setting than any of Handel's London oratorios. The concert version at St
John's, Smith Square, that opened the Lufthansa Festival was pure
stand-and-deliver, but its dramatic impact was impossible to miss.
The first part consists of comic sparring between the angel who opens up
hell after the resurrection of Christ and a gruff devil who is the first in
a long line of Handelian thuggish idiots. The second part is the
heartbroken reaction to the crucifixion by Mary Magdalene and Mary
Cleophas, with St John comforting them with Jesus' promise that he will
rise again. The angel and Lucifer then overhear Mary Magdalene's account of
her meeting with the risen Christ in the garden, and the devil goes
fizzling back to hell. The women tell St John about the resurrection and
all praise God.
Deborah York (who seems to have a golden glow about her) sang stylishly as
the angel. Emma Kirkby, not in particularly good voice tonight, was a bit
too sweet as Mary Magdalene, but Susan Bickley was expressive and forceful
as Mary Cleophas. Paul Agnew sang beautifully, but was a bit monotone as St
John. David Wilson-Johnson, again, got a lot of fun from Lucifer's music,
which is almost guaranteed to make listeners grin with its depiction of
stupidity.
St James's Baroque Players don't have the polish or complexity of Harry
Christophers' ensemble, but they were accurate and spirited under Ivor
Bolton's direction. The natural brass were particularly stirring and well
tuned.
H.E. Elsom
|
