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CHORAL MUSIC REVIEW
Not Quite Top-Flight April 20, 2002
|  By Kip Cranna
Robert Geary's hardy San Francisco Choral Society took on Handel's second most popular oratorio Israel in Egypt last weekend with a two-performance run at Saint Ignatius Church (heard Saturday). The well-attended performance brought some highly enjoyable moments, demonstrating careful preparation and admirable respect for the music, even if the outcome came short of a genuine triumph.
Like Messiah, Israel in Egypt differs from most of Handel's oratorios in its scarcity of plot and lack of actual characters, its text based solely on Bible excerpts, its few solo arias, and its heavy reliance on choruses (especially double-choruses). Basically we get the Exodus story boiled down to its essentials. Part One begins with the oppression of the Jews by the new Pharaoh and delineates the ten plagues Moses sent upon Egypt: the Nile turned to blood, the infestations of frogs, flies, lice, and locusts, plus hailstones, cattle pestilence, boils, "a great darkness," and finally, the death of Egypt's first-born sons — although the choral fugue announcing this crucial last straw was oddly omitted. Part One ends with the crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh's army, while Part Two reiterates and celebrates this victory story.
The oratorio is famous for the systematic borrowing Handel employed in its creation, not only from his own music but also from several works from much earlier times, particularly a magnifcat by Gionigi Erba, a wedding cantata by Alessandro Stradella, and a canzona by Johann Kaspar Kerll. The program texts were cleverly marked with "dingbat" symbols to help identify the various sources.
Handel began his original version by tacking on his earlier Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline as an opener, reworked as a lament on the death of Joseph. The result was not a success and the add-on was subsequently dropped, leaving the oratorio in the two-part structure performed in this concert. But since the original Part Two, now become Part One, begins with a recitative — a weak beginning for so major a work — Geary opened the concert with the "French overture" portion of the sinfonia to Handel's Solomon. It got off to a shaky start, lacking crisp attacks and well-placed accents. But the orchestra soon warmed to its task and revealed an exceptional adeptness at Baroque style — a tribute to the large number of fine early music players in the Bay Area. Styling themselves as the "Jubilate Baroque Orchestra," this essentially pick-up group has many players in common with Warren Stewart's equally laudable Magnificat. Handel's tremendously expressive orchestral devices came across with dexterous ease in moments like the skittering and flitting violins in "There Came All Manner of Flies." or the agitated strings and deftly delineated over-dotting in the double chorus "The People Shall Hear." The Choral Society, some 180 strong, is one of those music groups that fills a vital niche in the Bay Area's musical community by keeping the art of amateur choral singing alive, with a roster of volunteer singers running the gamut from finely-trained voices to lesser-skilled and even novice vocalists, all earnest in their desire to participate in music-making rather than be mere spectators. Judged on that basis, the group can be applauded for some admirable and dedicated work despite the lack of a truly solid core of focused choral sound. Ensemble was remarkably tight for so large a group, but chordal harmonies often failed to crystallize. Consonants were few and far between, and this lax diction often stole the magic from such marvelous Handelian effects as the gloomily-shaded harmonies of "He Sent a Thick Darkness."
Geary led his choral forces with large, sweeping gestures that managed to wield the group commandingly, if without rhythmic snap or dynamic contrast. The valiant choral singers labored at the fugues and struggled with the coloratura of "I Will Sing Unto the Lord," offering plenty of good will and eager effort that could have been backed up by more sheer energy. Still, there were some telling choral moments, like the sudden solidifying harmonies at "The Depths Were Congealed in the Heart of the Sea." And there was no denying the enthusiasm and surefire excitement they brought to the famous final chorus "The Horse and His Rider Hath He Thrown Into the Sea." The cautious tempi, understandable for the massive choruses, seemed less apt for the soloists and duets, which could have been spurred to a more energetic pace. Sopranos Sandra Coria Cadman and Aimée Puentes created an attractive blend in their duet "The Lord is My Strength, with Puentes making the more polished impression. Cadman used a light and feathered tone in "Thou Didst Blow With the Wind," and tackled the passagework handily. Her voice rang clear and true in the unaccompanied intonation to the final chorus. Mezzo-soprano soloist Wendy Hillhouse offered warm tone and concise enunciation in her opening aria (surely one of the oddest texts in the alto repertoire) "Their Land Brought Forth Frogs." Geary chose a moderate tempo that avoided any trace of humor despite Handel's deliberately picturesque hopping string figurations. Hillhouse gave suave phrasing to the long lines of "Thou Shalt Bring Them In" (a close cousin to "He Shall Feed His Flock" from Messiah) and sang the rapid figures with agility. Tenor soloist Brian Staufenbiel used his clear and supple voice to good effect, delivering cleanly articulated recitatives. His aria "The Enemy Said 'I Will Pursue'" was neatly and stylishly done despite a little dryness of tone.
Conductor Geary included an apologia in the printed program for the decision to perform this work in the light of contemporary events in the Near East, noting that repertoire decisions are made long in advance. Perhaps he had in mind this passage, which might have caused a few listeners to wince: "All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away by the greatness of Thy arm." But Handel can't be blamed either for ancient Biblical texts or modern-day animosities. Israel in Egypt is one of his greatest accomplishments, and the Choral Society can be thanked for giving it a hearing. (Clifford (Kip) Cranna is Musical Administrator of the San Francisco Opera, Program Advisor for the Carmel Bach Festival, and a frequent lecturer on music appreciation.) ©2002 Kip Cranna, all rights reserved |