San Francisco Classical Voice

Two contrasting views of Handel kicked off the week of the Berkeley Festival. Until recently, Handel has been thought of by most audiences as the great composer of colossal choral music. In the last few decades Handel's great gifts as an operatic composer have become increasingly well known through performances and recordings of his vast output of dramatic music. On Sunday, audiences were treated to concerts that presented both of these sides of the composer's creative personality.

Soli Deo Gloria Bring Sensitivity to Baroque Program

The choir Soli Deo Gloria, conducted by Allan Simon, presented a concert centered around the four Coronation Anthems composed by Handel in 1727 for George II of England. This is music that shows Handel both at his most grand, as in the opening movement of the first anthem, Zadok the Priest, and at his most delicate, as in the inner movements of the second anthem, My Heart Is Inditing. Both choir and orchestra responded with sensitivity to these contrasting musical styles.

It is a tribute to the success of the early-music movement that amateur choirs such as this group have adopted the stylish trills, appoggiaturas, and other Baroque ornaments that make the music come alive. Simon's conducting was brisk, energetic, and entirely appropriate. My only regret was that, in the louder passages, the brass and winds often overpowered the choir.

The well-blended voices of the choir were heard to better effect in some of the other music on the program: music for royal occasions by John Blow, Purcell, and Thomas Morley. These works, especially the funeral music for Queen Anne, provided a somber contrast to the ceremonial jubilation of the coronation anthems.

Teatro Bacchino Makes Aminta e Filide Sparkle

The second Handel concert of the day was a performance by Teatro Bacchino of Handel's dramatic cantata Aminta e Filide. This miniature Baroque opera is the work of a young composer celebrating young love. The music, however, is anything but amateurish. Handel himself thought so highly of it that he reused many of the movements in later works.

Under the musical direction of David Morris and the stage direction of Jennifer Griesbach, Teatro Bacchino has unearthed many gems of small-scale Baroque musical theater over the last few years. Every aspect of this production sparkled with the fresh energy this light pastorale requires. David Morris led a tight period-instrument ensemble ably assisted by Griesbach, who doubles as continuo harpsichordist.

The two singers, Melissa Fogarty as the amorous shepherd Aminta and Jennifer Ashworth as the ingenue shepherdess Filide, were ideally cast in their roles. Fogarty's intense dramatic energy and brilliant coloratura conveyed perfectly the ardor of the young shepherd. Ashworth's sweet, light voice contrasted and complemented Fogarty's performance. Ashworth's occasional intonation problems will, I believe, disappear as she matures vocally and finds her voice's resonant core. Both singers understand the style and affect of this music. Their final duet was a masterpiece of both vocal blend and pyrotechnics.

Jennifer Griesbach's work in Baroque staging, which has been familiar to audiences for several years, engaged the audience and drew us into the delicious humor of this work. The gratified chuckles and thunderous applause at the end of the work proved that fully staged Baroque opera is anything but a dead art form.

(John Prescott, a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at UC Berkeley, is a writer and lecturer on early music.)

©2000 John Prescott, all rights reserved