Apollo's Fire & Jeannette Sorrell Handel Israel in Egypt, Hwv 54 (2023)

George Frideric Handel - Saul [HWV 53] (3xCD)
Kölner Kammerchor / Collegium Cartusianum / Peter Neumann
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 955 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 332 0801-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1998
Genre: Classical | Hoster: Style: Oratorio

…Against the competition, this new German recording rates very high. It is certainly superior to Harnoncourt's heavily cut and somewhat mannered Teldec reissue.

Acclaimed countertenor Iestyn Davies and The King’s Consort perform an outstanding programme of Handel arias from some of the composer’s finest oratorios. Eleven varied solo arias include ‘O sacred oracles of truth’, the delicate ‘Tune your harps’, ‘Eternal source of light’ (with supreme trumpet playing from Crispian Steele-Perkins), the melodious ‘Your tuneful voice’ and the virtuoso ‘Mighty love now calls to arm’, as well as rarities including ‘On the valleys, dark and cheerless’ and an especial jewel, ‘Mortals think that Time is sleeping’.

This 2009 live performance by German-based chamber ensemble Musica Saeculorum under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker is a pure, polished recording; sharply defined and alternately musical and muscular in it's sensibility. Despite their German origin, this is a English language performance, with nary a hint of accent detectable; indeed, this is a sparkling performance from all involved, with crisp diction, razor-sharp attacks and both the orchestral and choral forces moving as one. Tenor Daniel Johannsen is electrifying in his solos, with crystal-clear singing and a heroic tone. Bass Dominik Wörner is similarly potent in his arias, bringing high drama and technique to his arias.

Handel's first Oratorio. Esther has a simple story plot. Very, very simple. Jewish folk are real excited because their Queen Esther has been made queen to the Persian king, Ahasuerus. No sooner than they are married, the king's high priest proclaims that all Jews must be put to death. The first few scenes go back and forth between Jewish and Persian camps declaring destruction of the other team. Finally Esther goes to see her husband. Overcome with her beauty, he tells her that the decree wasn't meant to include her. She tells husband that destroying her people is to destroy her. Husband sees the error of his ways, and drags the high priest in for an accounting of ways. He apologizes profusely, but Esther sees through his alligator tears, he's executed, and everyone stands around singing praises to Jehovah God. The end. In Seven scenes, the whole oratorio clocks in at 1 hour and 37 minutes flat.

Jephtha (1751) was Handel's last oratorio. It does not have quite the dramatic sweep of Messiah or Israel in Egypt, but it contains many moments equal to anything in Handel. These include the choruses, several of which are among the most dramatically effective fugues ever composed. One attractive feature of this excellent recording of the oratorio under the directorship of Harry Christophers is that these choruses are crystal clear in texture, with all the words intelligible: hard enough for the soloists, who likewise won't have you turning to the booklet, and well-nigh remarkable for a chorus. Christophers' group the Sixteen consists of 18 members here, plus an orchestra of 30, so this is a fairly sizable performance by current standards.

Jephtha (1752) was George Frederick Handel's final oratorio, and it was composed during a period of incipient blindness and declining health. Yet the composer's artistic powers were undiminished in this dramatization of the Biblical story, for the arias and choruses are as memorable as any from Handel's earlier works in the genre, including Messiah and Israel in Egypt.