- Audio CD (15 Sep 2008)
- SPARS Code: ADD
- Number of Discs: 6
- Format: Box set
- Label: CLASSICAL
- ASIN: B001D94LGG
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 294,105 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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2 reviews
Two Great Handel Oratorios in Splendid Performances
25 April 2012
Warner's Handel Edition is an economical way of acquiring a substantial portion of Handel's orchestral and vocal output -- if one os prepared to do without much documentation (such as texts and, in the case of works in Latin or Italian, translations). Both of the oratorios included in this volume are in English, though the choral diction and that of some soloists is not always sufficiently idiomatic or clear so that one can do without a libretto.
That regret having been voiced, I heartily recommend this particular volume of the Handel Edition. Both oratorios are splendid -- among Handel's supreme masterworks in the genre. Belshazzar is a vividly dramatic piece on an epic scale; Jephtha is a more intimate, personal tragedy, filled with Handel's profoundest meditations on the human condition. It was also the composer's final work in the genre (discounting the largely recycled "Triumph of Time and Truth"); his struggle with his oncoming blindness, and the fragility of his mortal frame, is manifest throughout his musical setting of the troubling story from the Hebrew Scriptures.
There have been several fine recordings of *Jephtha* over the years--including Somary, Marriner, Gardiner and Creed (the ones I have heard), but fewer of *Belshazzar* (I wonder why the latter has never quite caught on with audiences or even with ardent Handelians). Harnoncourt's version of the latter is, by a fair margin, the best of the available versions. Pinnock's has some fine soloists and boasts a superb English choir that declaims the text far more idiomatically and clearly than Harnoncourt's Viennese group. However, I find Pinnock's *Belshazzar* to be weighed down by a fatal dullness. Neumann, on the other hand (on MDG), leads his forces with plenty of dramatic flair; unfortunately, his soloists by and large do not sound comfortable with their roles--or with singing in English--and his two countertenors are inexcusably shrill. Harnoncourt has by far the best cast of the three recordings (Tear, Palmer and Lehane are outstanding), as well as a choral ensemble able to sing with rhythmic incisiveness and supple phrasing (despite mushy diction on occasion). The Concentus Musicus plays with their customary fervor, if not always with as much refinement as we would expect from period-instrument ensembles today (*Belshazzar* was recorded in 1975). Haroncourt manages to convey a cumulative dramatic tension throughout the work, but his flair for Handel's extraordinary musico-dramatic effects is heard to best advantage in the orgy scene from Act II, which culminates in Handel's fantastic and spooky setting of the "handwriting on the wall." Overall, I would rank Harnoncourt's *Belshazzar* among the most effective and enjoyable period-performance versions of a Handel oratorio--though I suspect that if Gardiner had turned his attention to the piece, he would have produced an even finer realization (perhaps he will revisit Handel at some future date).
I am not quite as enthusiastic about Harnoncourt's *Jephtha*. Its chief virtue, shared with this conductor's *Belshazzar*, is the vividly, indeed urgently dramatic rendering of a work that, in lesser hands, can seem overlong, weighed down by stretches of less than top-drawer invention. A successful recording of *Jephtha* must convey a sense of fateful foreboding, even during the occasional dull patches. Harnoncourt manages to communicate this sense of inexorable tragedy perhaps better than any conductor before or since. The great choruses that comment on this tragic trajectory can have rarely been done more effectively, with Handel's text-painting played to the hilt. The main problem with this performance, then, lies not so much in the interpretation as in the execution. Both the instrumental playing and the singing could do with greater polish; the listener can be distracted at times by lapses of ensemble and intonation. The chief problem, however, is the singing of Werner Hollweg in the role of Jepththa. It's not only that his English diction is frequently unidiomatic; more importantly, his interpretation of the role is so over-the-top as to risk turning this character, with whom the listener should empathize, into a caricature. Histrionics are as unwelcome as blandness in the portrayal of a "tragic hero" of this sort. If Anthony Rolfe Johnson errs on the side of blandness in his portrayal of Jephtha for Marriner, Hollweg is guilty of "tearing passion to tatters"==quite possibly at Harnoncourt's behest. Vocally, too, Hollweg often sounds strained and out of his element. The other soloists offer much compensation, though--especially Gale and Esswood. Nor can it be said that Hollweg, for all his shortcomings, fails to rivet the listener's attention. Far from it. Too bad Robert Tear wasn't available for this recording!
The remastered sound in both works is what we have come to expect from Teldec during this period: clear, robust, with plenty of visceral impact, though at times a little dry and wanting in ambient warmth.
Despite flawed casting of the title role in *Jephtha*, these are two of Harnoncourt's most successful Handelian ventures. Yoked together in a slim-line bargain box, they make a tempting proposition for those who may be exploring this repertoire for the first time--or for those who would like to add two very distinctive interpretations to an already ample Handel collection. In the case of *Belshazzar* there is no better version available; and in the case of *Jephtha* no more intensely dramatic recordings exists.
That regret having been voiced, I heartily recommend this particular volume of the Handel Edition. Both oratorios are splendid -- among Handel's supreme masterworks in the genre. Belshazzar is a vividly dramatic piece on an epic scale; Jephtha is a more intimate, personal tragedy, filled with Handel's profoundest meditations on the human condition. It was also the composer's final work in the genre (discounting the largely recycled "Triumph of Time and Truth"); his struggle with his oncoming blindness, and the fragility of his mortal frame, is manifest throughout his musical setting of the troubling story from the Hebrew Scriptures.
There have been several fine recordings of *Jephtha* over the years--including Somary, Marriner, Gardiner and Creed (the ones I have heard), but fewer of *Belshazzar* (I wonder why the latter has never quite caught on with audiences or even with ardent Handelians). Harnoncourt's version of the latter is, by a fair margin, the best of the available versions. Pinnock's has some fine soloists and boasts a superb English choir that declaims the text far more idiomatically and clearly than Harnoncourt's Viennese group. However, I find Pinnock's *Belshazzar* to be weighed down by a fatal dullness. Neumann, on the other hand (on MDG), leads his forces with plenty of dramatic flair; unfortunately, his soloists by and large do not sound comfortable with their roles--or with singing in English--and his two countertenors are inexcusably shrill. Harnoncourt has by far the best cast of the three recordings (Tear, Palmer and Lehane are outstanding), as well as a choral ensemble able to sing with rhythmic incisiveness and supple phrasing (despite mushy diction on occasion). The Concentus Musicus plays with their customary fervor, if not always with as much refinement as we would expect from period-instrument ensembles today (*Belshazzar* was recorded in 1975). Haroncourt manages to convey a cumulative dramatic tension throughout the work, but his flair for Handel's extraordinary musico-dramatic effects is heard to best advantage in the orgy scene from Act II, which culminates in Handel's fantastic and spooky setting of the "handwriting on the wall." Overall, I would rank Harnoncourt's *Belshazzar* among the most effective and enjoyable period-performance versions of a Handel oratorio--though I suspect that if Gardiner had turned his attention to the piece, he would have produced an even finer realization (perhaps he will revisit Handel at some future date).
I am not quite as enthusiastic about Harnoncourt's *Jephtha*. Its chief virtue, shared with this conductor's *Belshazzar*, is the vividly, indeed urgently dramatic rendering of a work that, in lesser hands, can seem overlong, weighed down by stretches of less than top-drawer invention. A successful recording of *Jephtha* must convey a sense of fateful foreboding, even during the occasional dull patches. Harnoncourt manages to communicate this sense of inexorable tragedy perhaps better than any conductor before or since. The great choruses that comment on this tragic trajectory can have rarely been done more effectively, with Handel's text-painting played to the hilt. The main problem with this performance, then, lies not so much in the interpretation as in the execution. Both the instrumental playing and the singing could do with greater polish; the listener can be distracted at times by lapses of ensemble and intonation. The chief problem, however, is the singing of Werner Hollweg in the role of Jepththa. It's not only that his English diction is frequently unidiomatic; more importantly, his interpretation of the role is so over-the-top as to risk turning this character, with whom the listener should empathize, into a caricature. Histrionics are as unwelcome as blandness in the portrayal of a "tragic hero" of this sort. If Anthony Rolfe Johnson errs on the side of blandness in his portrayal of Jephtha for Marriner, Hollweg is guilty of "tearing passion to tatters"==quite possibly at Harnoncourt's behest. Vocally, too, Hollweg often sounds strained and out of his element. The other soloists offer much compensation, though--especially Gale and Esswood. Nor can it be said that Hollweg, for all his shortcomings, fails to rivet the listener's attention. Far from it. Too bad Robert Tear wasn't available for this recording!
The remastered sound in both works is what we have come to expect from Teldec during this period: clear, robust, with plenty of visceral impact, though at times a little dry and wanting in ambient warmth.
Despite flawed casting of the title role in *Jephtha*, these are two of Harnoncourt's most successful Handelian ventures. Yoked together in a slim-line bargain box, they make a tempting proposition for those who may be exploring this repertoire for the first time--or for those who would like to add two very distinctive interpretations to an already ample Handel collection. In the case of *Belshazzar* there is no better version available; and in the case of *Jephtha* no more intensely dramatic recordings exists.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Belshazzar is good, Jephtha disappointing
2 Jun 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The title says its. The recorded sound is good throughout. Jephtha is done with no-name soloists, and never really comes to life. I was quite disappointed in it. Belshazzar is just fine.
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