|
CHORAL MUSIC REVIEW
December 11, 2005
|
By Anna Carol Dudley
Philharmonia Baroque made a strong case for Mozart's orchestration of
Handel's Messiah Sunday night at the First
Congregational Church of Berkeley. Mozart added color to the
orchestra, using an expanded wind section — clarinets, flutes, oboes,
bassoons, French horns, trombones, and trumpets — to double the chorus parts or to play additional inner melodies which he wrote for them.
He even gave the violas more to do — a nice change for Philharmonia's
violists who last month found themselves largely overlooked by Vivaldi.
The Philharmonia chorus was in its element, every section strong,
especially the men. In Part I, Mozart assigned the beginnings of
several choruses to the solo quartet, adding the full chorus later.
This was particularly effective in "For unto us a child is born,"
which began in the solo quartet, the full chorus entering on
"Wonderful, Counselor." The chorus is the star of Part II, starting
with "Behold the Lamb of God," supported by Mozart's sonorous
orchestration, rich in added inner voices. Director Nicholas McGegan
set fast tempi for "Surely, He has borne our griefs," "And with His
stripes," and "All we like sheep" — tempi which worked well, giving
vehemence to the word "Surely" and force to the long chromatic
phrases. The chorus was fully up to the fast passage-work of "All we
like sheep," and Handel's setting of "astray" was onomatopoetic at the
breakneck speed, leading to the suddenly slow soft "And the Lord hath
laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Chorus after chorus piled up,
leading finally to the great "Hallelujah" at the end of part II.
Philharmonia's audience didn't stand up for the Hallelujah Chorus,
except for a few traditional souls in the balcony. It may well be
true, that the English king stood up for it at an early
performance and everybody followed suit. The brief pause provided at
the end of Part II Sunday night prompted many people to stretch their
legs; maybe the king felt a similar urge. From the opening "And the
glory of the Lord" to the splendid "Worthy is the Lamb" and the final
Amen, the chorus sang with technical mastery, expressive changes of
dynamics and tempi, and impressive vocal commitment.
Among the soloists, the star was tenor Michael Colvin. His voice is both powerful and beautiful — a rare combination — and his runs are a triumph. The familiar opening lines, "Comfort ye, my people," were indeed comforting: no fussy ornamentation, just lovely, convincing sound. He made real the promise of making the crooked straight and the rough places plain, and what could be more meaningful in these difficult times? Mozart gave "Rejoice greatly" to the tenor, and Colvin sang it better than most sopranos, taking it at a good clip, every sixteenth note clear and in tune. He sang "Thou shalt break them" with impressive coloratura and great dramatic force. Mozart reassigned several of the solos to voices different from those usually used today. He was following the example of Handel himself, who changed or transposed solos from performance to performance to suit the available soloists. Handel wrote "But who may abide" for a countertenor, Mozart gave it to a bass, and editions since Mozart have continued to give it to a bass. He gave both "He shall feed His flock" and "Come unto Him" to the soprano, in the soprano key — again following Handel's occasional practice. For the first performance, Handel gave the "feeding" to the alto, the "coming" transposed up for the soprano (as we usually hear them today). Both he and Mozart should have stuck with that version, with its welcome change of key. The short tenor recitatives and airs in Part II were divided between alto and soprano; Handel had sometimes used the soprano. Baritone Christópheren Nomura sang expressively, ornamenting tastefully, and rarely, if ever, looking at his score. "Behold, I tell you a mystery" was a magic moment, McGegan starting the orchestra pianissimo and Nomura keeping it down until, in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet appeared (combined by Mozart with a couple of French horns).
Mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton had succumbed to a cold, so at the last minute she had been replaced by Elspeth Franks from the chorus, who literally had to borrow a scarf to look dressed up, and proceeded to nail the part. Not only was she able to sing all the choruses that began with the solo quartet, having been a chorister, but she proved a wonderfully expressive soloist — attentive to text and able to vary her sound and style to suit changes in words and music. "O Thou that tellest good tidings" was confident, "He was despised" was affecting, and the duet with Colvin, "O death, where is thy sting," was a high point (for the violists too). Soprano Nancy Argenta, who has performed here with distinction in the past, was having an off night. Her sound was an over-bright, cutting music hall sound, lacking in warmth or color, and she sang sharp in the combined "He shall feed / Come unto Him." When she sang "How beautiful" with flutist Stephen Schultz, one wished her sound could match his. Oddly, the piece in which she sounded best was the recitative Mozart wrote at the end, setting the words "If God be for us" as a substitute for Handel's aria setting. One moment that didn't work very well in the Mozart orchestration was in the choral portion of "O Thou that tellest," which featured an oom-pah-pah accompaniment. On the other hand, the use of the fortepiano instead of harpsichord or organ was effective, under Charles Sherman's competent hands, both in accompanying recitative and in choruses like "Since by man came death" and "Worthy is the Lamb," in which the chorus entered after a strong downbeat in the basses, reinforced with a single percussive chord from the fortepiano. It was interesting to hear delayed cadences in recitatives — not Handel's practice. Perhaps it is due to Mozart that for years cadences in Handel have been delayed, until, late in the 20th century, scholars convinced performers and editors that they were not done that way in Handel's time. Mozart used a German translation, for the benefit of a German-speaking audience. McGegan, following Mozart's example, wisely went back to the King James English for his audience. (Anna Carol Dudley is a singer, teacher, member of the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco State University, lecturer emerita and director emerita of the San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque Music Workshop.)
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's next program is in early February, and is a tour through two centuries of dazzling virtuoso violin music.
|
Michael Colvin
Elspeth Franks
