Reviews

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London Handel Festival in St George’s, Hanover Square, London on 8 March 2010

The young counter-tenor David Allsopp sang a delightful lunchtime concert in St George’s Grosvenor Square on Monday, 8 March 2010. The programme featured works almost exclusively by Handel; the final item was a cantata by Vivaldi. Mr Allsopp has a nicely produced, crystal clear and finely tuned counter-tenor voice which strongly reminds one of Michael Chance. Unlike many counter-tenors who sing in the Oxbridge tradition Mr Allsopp produces a healthy, free sound without any trace of hoot. Another big difference between Mr Allsopp and other Anglican counter-tenors is that he colours and varies his tone to express the text in interesting and unexpected ways - to boot Mr Allsopp has a very good coloratura technique as displayed in the treacherously difficult Pianti.

Mr Allsopp was very ably and musically accompanied by cellist Kinga Gáborjáni and harpsichordist Charles Andrews. Although the accompaniment these two excellent musicians provided was technically spot-on, I felt that their involvement was on the level of a spectator as opposed to that of a participant and often Mr Allsopp had to do much of the interpretative work.

In La Solitudine, the opening cantata (I unfortunately missed the first aria), I was immediately struck by Mr Allsopp’s confidence and easy manner. The following item was Qualor crudele. This cantata was made even more special as Mr Allsopp gave a most delicately sung account of it. Irene stood out as one of the pieces where the continuo was passive in its emotional response to the text. On the word “crudele” (cruel) the continuo did not react to the text staying on the same dynamic and emotional level. In Stanco Mr Allsopp delivered very neat coloratura on the word “vivace” (lively), and “mi desto” (I wake) was sung with particular brilliant timing. The final cantata, Pianti by Vivaldi, was a most welcome breath of fresh air as I found the Handel cantatas too similar sounding by the end of the recital. Vivaldi’s word painting in this cantata is spectacular. The musical imagery of the shipwreck (here ’cello and the harpsichord’s playing of the Aliberti bass was spectacular!). Also, Mr Allsopp’s singing of the outrageously virtuosic coloratura was really incredible in the final aria. This cantata refutes Vivaldi’s reputation as a paint by numbers composer. The music is hideously difficult from the peaceful and placid legato of the opening aria to the endless reams of violin inspired coloratura in the finale.

I felt that the best music was not the Handel, but rather the Vivaldi. Though the majority of Handel’s cantatas date from Handel’s Italian apprenticeship the examples performed, though beautiful as individual pieces, were not particularly effective when performed together. (At these conversazione where the works were premiered there would often be more than one composer performing their own music.) Unfortunately, none of them had the emotional range of a La Lucrezia or the groundbreaking perversion of form and harmony of Tra le fiamme which date from this period. I felt that the programme would have benefited had some of the Handel been replaced with cantatas by Porpora, Scarlatti, Albinoni, or Caldara to add some variety.

Although Mr Allsopp’s warm voice easily filled the church I wondered if his voice would need to be a size or two bigger for the opera house. In addition Mr Allsopp needs to give his Italian a little more attention, as it was not consistently idiomatic throughout the course of the concert. Nonetheless, he has a lot going for him and I would consider him to be hot property. In summary, Mr Allsopp is a very intelligent singer, with a most beautiful voice, and is clearly a very enthusiastic and sincere artist and I look forward to hearing more of him.

Calvin Wells, Opera Britannia

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London Handel Festival in St George’s, Hanover Square, London on 23 February 2010

The last place you would expect to find opera is at the Cock Tavern, a boozer in Kilburn High Road, north London.

The cavernous interior, two pool tables and clientele of old codgers rooted at the bar may not bear comparison with Paris’s Latin Quarter but this is where Puccini’s La Bohème is enjoying a runaway success.

In an upstairs theatre that seats only 40, an alternating cast of young singers enact the tragedy of student love and loss, updated to present-day Kilburn with new translation by director Robin Norton-Taylor.

The set is a typical student pad with shabby sofa, where Rodolfo the writer taps away at a laptop. Mimi, a migrant cleaner who sews floral brooches in the evening, knocks at the door when she runs out of change for the meter.

Audience and singers move downstairs to the bar for the Café Momus scene. Annabel Mountford’s sparky Musetta has a spat with her elderly admirer and shows her skill at pole-dancing, while a table of singers acts as chorus, supplemented unsteadily on the night I was there by one of the pub’s regulars.

Back upstairs, no one could fail to be unmoved by the fourth act death scene. Close up it certainly was, with Anthony Flaum’s Rodolfo shedding tears over Rosalind Coad’s dying Mimi.

The orchestra consists of conductor Andrew Charity at the piano. Opera in the raw but Puccini’s intentions come through loud and clear.

From pub to church for the 2010 London Handel Festival, running to April 2. The 18th century gem of St George’s, Hanover Square is an appropriate centre for festival events, being Handel’s local church when he lived in Brook Street.

This year’s festival opened with Handel’s dramatic Oratorio Belshazzar, based on the Old Testament story of Belshazzar’s feast, with singers, orchestra and chorus grouped in front of the altar.

Tenor Andrew Kennedy was an ebullient Belshazzar, cheerfully in his cups until the eerie moment when violin strings signal the writing on the wall that foretells the fall of Babylon.

Counter tenor David Allsopp, singing from the pulpit, was an impressively stern Daniel.

Soprano Lynda Lee brought a touching pathos to the part of Queen Nitocris, trying vainly to control her unruly son.

Excellent work, too, from chorus and orchestra under conductor Laurence Cummings. A galvanising evening that brought the great Oratorio into intense focus.

Clare Colvin, Daily Express

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London Handel Festival in St George’s, Hanover Square, London on 23 February 2010

This marks the thirty-third year of the London Handel Festival, which opened on the twenty-third of February, Handel’s birthday, with his neglected 1744 oratorio Belshazzar. Belshazzar is an unusual work, the product of a collaboration between Handel and the librettist Charles Jennens, on whom the composer had relied for the text to both Saul and the Messiah. It depicts the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C., culminating in the defeat in battle of the tyrant king Belshazzar. He is vanquished by Cyrus, ruler of the Persians, a just sovereign who strives ultimately for peace, carrying out the will of God and freeing the Jews who are held captive as slaves in Belshazzar’s court. Jennens, ever politically and religiously minded, establishes an essential dichotomy between the pagan, arrogant hedonism of the oppressor and the righteousness that stems from Christian piety and respect for God. The work ends with peace restored, the virtuous Cyrus promising freedom and safety to the Babylonian people, as well as acknowledging the God of Israel, promising the restoration of the Jewish city of Jerusalem and the return of the Jews to their homeland.

As in the Messiah, Jennens was obviously concerned with promulgating the authenticity of the Bible. In formulating his narrative of Babylon’s fall, he drew not only from Biblical texts, but various sources from ancient history, including Josephus, Herodotus, Xenophon, and Polybius. Jennens sought to assert the truth of Christianity, defending the Old Testament prophecies interspersed in the work by placing them alongside the pagan accounts of classical historians. Both accounts match, thus sending the message that the Bible, verified by pagan Greek sources, is accurate and worthy of belief. Jennens’s persecuted political views as a Jacobite add a further layer of complexity to the work; he was a firm supporter of the exiled Stuart royal family, and it is not unreasonable to find a double entendre in the oratorio’s depiction of the overthrow of an illegitimate ruler and the final restoration of righteous exiles to their homeland.

Upon receipt of the first two acts, Handel wrote to Jennens that the writer had drafted ‘a Noble Piece, very grand and uncommon’; with it, the composer created one of his most nuanced works. The orchestral and vocal colouring employed is second to none, clearly delineating not only the various personae of the work—the tyrant Belshazzar, his principled mother, Nitocris, the magnanimous Cyrus, the Jewish prophet Daniel—but the three separate nations represented in Babylon, each portrayed by the chorus in its own distinctive musical idiom. Though it might strike one as unusual to fetter a work with such obvious dramatic potential in oratorio form, it is testament to Handel’s genius that the music in itself lends such vivid colouring and life to the expression of the drama. Though the work can at times seem ponderous and lacks the greater panache and distinctiveness of a piece like the Messiah, it is nevertheless a prime example of why Handel is one of the great masters of tonal colouring and expression in music.

Yet one may still legitimately question the merit to contemporary audiences of such an unstaged dramatic oratorio. Belshazzar is certainly long; even after Handel’s extensive excisions to Jennens’s originally verbose text, most performances still last nearly three hours. Without the visual spectacle and heightened dramatic impact of the theatre or music as memorable as that in a work like the Messiah, it isn’t entirely surprising that many of Handel’s oratorios, Belshazzar included, are not only infrequently performed now, but met with financial disaster upon their premiere in the eighteenth century. Yet placed in the proper context, presented intelligently and under good direction, Handel’s genius shines though perhaps even more fully than in his staged operas, in which spectacle can distract from the brilliant expressiveness of his music. Happily, the London Handel Festival presented a welcome opportunity to experience this facet of Handel’s craft at its best.

As one would expect from The London Handel Orchestra, the performance was executed on period instruments to a level of near faultlessness. Laurence Cummings conducted with great sensitivity to the score; it was clear that both he and his orchestra knew the music intimately and were relishing the performance. Though Belshazzar can be tedious, it moved along swiftly under Cummings’s direction, the overture executed with great energy and distinction. This moved immediately to the subdued, reflective accompaniment to Nitocris’s contemplation of the transient state of human empire, played delicately and with elaborate attention to detail. In Act II when the hand of God appears portentously at Belshazzar’s feast, the delicious twitching of the strings gave eloquent expression to its menace, drawn out so vividly by the eerie simplicity of Handel’s music. Conversely, the orchestra lent overwhelming jubilance to the familiar Handelian evocations of glory such as that in the Martial Symphony in Act III, trumpets and timpani injecting the necessary power into the work. In general, it was a vivacious, thoroughly enjoyable account of the score, one that did justice to both the oratorio’s more energetic tempi as well as its moments of understated piety and meditation, achieving the balance that is essential to Jennens’s pious yet joyful libretto.

Happily, the orchestra and direction were not the only reasons the evening proved a success. A reasonably strong cast was assembled, opening with Lynda Lee’s dignified Nitocris, the conflicted mother of Belshazzar. Nitocris is a good woman who loves her erring son despite his tremendous faults, trying in vain from the beginning to convince him to change the course of his actions before it becomes too late. It ought to be one of the more moving roles in the piece, as it was with Ms. Lee’s interpretation. Her soprano voice is strong and silky, equal to both the elegiac reflection on flux that opens the work with ‘Vain, fluctuating state of human empire,’ as well as the dancing coloratura and trills of such arias as ‘The leafy honours of the field.’ Though faltering occasionally in the lower range, her upper register tended to be secure and resounding, and she contributed some radiant singing throughout the performance.

As the hubristic ruler of Babylon, Andrew Kennedy was superb. Kennedy was the winner of the Handel Singing Competition in 2002, and judging by this performance, it is not difficult to understand why. His tenor is immaculately suited to singing Handel, his tone rich and elegant and remarkably free of the vibrato that plagues so many interpretations. When he finally appeared in the fourth scene of Act I, his virtuosic aria, ‘Let festal joy triumphant reign,’ immediately set the tone for the rest of his performance. He navigated with ease the difficult vocal meanderings and ornamentation of Handel’s music, making it seem the most natural thing in the world. His range was admirably secure at both ends, transitioning beautifully through the demanding sinuousness of the score. In a performance in which standards of enunciation were high, Kennedy excelled; he was an unquestioned highlight of the evening, as was his wonderful Act I duet with Ms. Lee, ‘O dearer than my life, forbear.’ Ms. Lee was in top form here, her mournful pleading with her son genuinely affecting as maternal love and worry coloured every note. Her phrasing was refined and beautiful, a wonderful contrast to Belshazzar’s arrogance, so strongly conveyed by Mr. Kennedy.

In the Persian camp, countertenor Gary Crichlow gave a solid interpretation of the righteous Cyrus. If he seemed underpowered initially, his vocal presence seemed to grow as the performance continued, and he contributed some very strong arias, particularly in the later acts. His rendition of ‘Destructive war thy limits know’ featured some truly impressive handling of markedly demanding singing, and his intonation was always commendably secure. He was wonderfully animated in the role, too, suffusing his scenes with all the energy and drama one could desire in order for an unstaged oratorio to be brought properly to life. If he didn’t stand out in his role the way Mr. Kennedy did as Belshazzar, he nevertheless proved more than equal to the demands of the part. Likewise with Lisandro Abadie’s portrayal of Gobryas, a Babylonian who defects to the Persians after Belshazzar murders his son. Mr. Abadie was a strong vocal presence, if sometimes less inspired than he might have been; his aria ‘Opprest with never-ceasing Grief’, while well sung with excellent diction, seemed perfunctory rather than moving. However, it ought to be conceded that Gobryas is something of a dour part anyway; despite that, Mr. Abadie’s bass provided moments of great beauty, and it is hard to imagine the role significantly better sung.

Similarly, David Allsopp offered exquisite singing as the Jewish prophet Daniel. His countertenor voice was more immediately captivating than Mr. Crichlow’s, ringing out majestically in ‘Oh sacred oracles of truth.’ In his stately and nuanced reading of the score, Mr. Allsopp excelled in portraying Daniel’s piety and grace. The intonation of his upper register was precise, his tone majestic and gleaming; if his lower range was occasionally less smooth, he nevertheless offered a performance that was exquisitely sung. Like Mr. Kennedy’s Belshazzar, his diction was clear and his restraint over vibrato commendable; his interpretation of Daniel deciphering God’s writing at Belshazzar’s feast and his exuberant ‘No! to thyself thy trifles be’ in Act II were truly impressive, as was his singing throughout.

The minor roles were similarly well executed, Alexander Sprague making a strong Arioch, a Babylonian lord fleeing the onslaught of the Persians, and Laurence Meikle a lyrical messenger. The London Handel Singers were a unifying thread that held the evening together, their choruses achieving a consistently beautiful harmony. They gave wonderful characterizations of the various choruses that appear in the work, bringing fully to bear the marvellous delineation of nationalities effected by Handel in the score. The Babylonian chorus in ‘Behold by Persia’s Hero made’ was portrayed with a lustrous sense of exultation and derisiveness, sharing Belshazzar’s unchecked arrogance as it mocked the Persians beyond the city walls; the chorus of the Jews attained the necessary solemnity and sense of spiritual grace, weighed down by oppression yet secure in piety and looking forward to promised deliverance; the chorus of the Persians echoed the martial buoyancy of the victorious Persian soldiers. Handel’s brilliant vocal colouring is nowhere more evident than in his expressive choral writing for the three nationalities in Belshazzar, and the London Handel Singers did full justice to this in a considered and powerful performance.

It was Handel’s great gifts as a dramatist that allowed him to fashion oratorios such as Belshazzar, which succeeds through its marvellous musical expressiveness and characterization to be so intensely dramatic despite being unstaged. In their well-paced and thoroughly enjoyable reading of the score, The London Handel Orchestra and Singers under Mr. Cummings succeeded in driving this point home. Though a work like Belshazzar is never going to appeal to everyone, The London Handel Festival made a good case for the value in seeking to preserve and promote this rarefied form of music; the festival continues until the beginning of April, and anyone with an interest in Handel and his superlative dramatic and musical gifts is encouraged to look at their very good selection of offerings. As the first of the new season, this performance of Belshazzar certainly bodes well for the rest.

John E. De Wald, Opera Britannia

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University of Essex Choir in Chelmsford Cathedral on 30 January 2010

Israel in Egypt realises the text of Exodus in true Handelian style and the overture to Judas Maccabeus provided an entirely appropriate scene-setting introduction.

The choir assumed the role of oppressed Israelites with immense conviction, and their energetic, crisp enunciation dispensed with the need for a printed text. Beautiful vocal tone was consistently achieved, from the subtly controlled “He sent a thick darkness”, to the mighty proclamation of “The Lord shall reign”, and they truly relished victory as their enemies were plunged into the Red Sea.

The orchestral playing was amazing, particularly in the representation of various pestilences. Quivering strings became swarms of flies and locusts, timpani beat out ferocious hailstones, and sharp stabbing rhythms portrayed the mass murder of the first-born with chilling accuracy.

Fervent performances were given by all six soloists. Spiky strings offset by lyrical oboes announced a wonderful bass duet with Michael Pearce and Julien Debreuil proudly acclaiming the Lord’s power. Tenor, Nicholas Mulroy was equally vehement as the defiant enemy, sopranos Katy Hill, and Lucy Page were charming in their intricately weaved duet and David Allsopp, counter-tenor, gave an exquisite account of “Thou shall bring them in”.

Richard Cooke directed a brilliant performance – as varied and moving as Messiah? – I think so!

Jackie Wallace, Essex County Standard

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Sheffield Bach Choir in Sheffield Cathedral on 7 December 2009

Remarkable choral singing, fantastic solo singing and superb instrumental playing, little wonder there was a unanimous standing ovation as the final Amen reverberated round a packed cathedral.

The four young soloists seemed to capture everyone’s attention, especially the countertenor David Allsopp who more than one lady wanted to take home with them: wonderfully smooth delivery and power.

He was despised wasn’t a dirge but heartbreaking with the vocal nuances associated with Handel’s tragic opera arias. That he meant every word was clear from his clenched left fist.

Edward Grint, a bass who actually has a low G, ‘shook’ without a semblance of wobble and had the vocal flexibility not to sound rushed in the fast tempi of Why do the nations.

John McMunn was not the stereotypical English oratorio tenor with a tendency to white tone. There was an almost heroic ring to his voice at times from the outset in a strongly proclaimed Comfort ye.

Messiah soprano soloists are usually reliable but Clare Lloyd was considerably more than that: full top notes in a flowing voice that had an almost creamy warmth and, like her fellow soloists, used her words meaningfully, and you always heard them with clarity from all four.

Ditto, more surprisingly, those from the Bach Choir whose singing was magnificent, full-blooded, extremely well balanced, finely nuanced and with the character that was once theirs restored, let’s hope with some permanence.

The playing from members of the National Festival Orchestra was terrific with a trumpet player who played with subtlety and above all a widely exposed violinist, Sally Robinson, who was marvellous.

And there was the evening’s hero, Simon Lindley who conducted from memory and worked extremely hard to secure the performance he did. The effort was eminently worthwhile.

Sheffield Telegraph

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Maulbronner Kammerchor in Maulbronn Monastery, 26 & 27 September 2009

The Maulbronn Klosterkonzerte ended with a performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt conducted by Jürgen Budday. No historical painting by a great master, no Hollywood ham blockbuster can measure up to the expressiveness and power of Handel’s music. In his oratorio Israel in Egypt with his music alone Handel created an incredible impression of the plagues imposed by God on the Egyptians without any visual effects but which nevertheless produces visions of great terror in its listeners. These are combined with prayers and songs of praise based on biblical texts of great inwardness and grandeur. Israel in Egypt demonstrates very effectively the great effect of a Handel oratorio and so it was an extremely appropriate choice as the final work in the 2009 memorial season of the Maulbronn Klosterkonzerte. It was a most successful and impressive continuation of the Handel seasons founded by Jürgen Budday more than a decade ago. Since this oratorio largely consists of great choruses which often take the form of eight-part double choruses it provided the Maulbronn Chamber Chorus with an ideal opportunity to demonstrate its excellent standard of choral singing. The ensemble used this opportunity to the full. The clarity and purity of tone, the warmth and richness of tone, the homogeneity and transparency of the chorus as well of the chorus and the individual singers was the proof of a special class of choral singing. Jürgen Budday had trained his chorus meticulously and guided it safely through a gripping performance of the complex score in which the Hannover Hofkapelle playing on period instruments contributed with colourful and subtle intensity. Budday’s interpretation was marked by flowing tempi, clear and sometimes accentuated phrasing and invigorating dynamics. This gave the choruses inner tension and solemnity and provided exciting dynamics, for example, in the depiction of the crossing of the Red Sea.

The atmospheric performance took place in the wonderful surroundings of the Maulbronn Klosterkirche and fascinated the public from the first to the last note. The “Exodus” and “Moses’s song”, which Handel composed specially for Israel in Egypt followed the overture to the oratorio Solomon. The first part after the ode to death as a lament on Joseph’s death and the later version with choruses from other Handel oratorios were omitted.

Although the chorus plays the main part in Israel in Egypt there are some very beautiful solo arias. These were sung with great distinction in Maulbronn. Miriam Allan sang Miriam and the Australian soprano, a favourite in Maulbronn, sang clearly, brightly and extremely sensitively not only in the introduction to the final chorus. The Alto, David Allsopp, was also again a welcome visitor. He sang the very moving aria “Thou shalt bring them” especially quite enchantingly and delicately voice. He is as gifted a Handel singer as the tenor Benjamin Hulett, who perfectly combined exquisite singing and expressiveness. Sarah Wegener sang the second soprano part stylishly and very flexibly. The basses Steffen Balbach and Daniel Raschinsky sang their duet both tunefully and with great vigour.

Israel in Egypt is another highlight in the Maulbronn Handel series. A CD in the Edition Kloster Maulbrunn will record the performance.

Wolfram Frey, Pforzheimer Zeitung
English Translation © 2010 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Maulbronner Kammerchor in Maulbronn Monastery, 26 & 27 September 2009

The God of Israel allows the Egyptians no escape: a brilliant performance of Handel’s oratorio in the Maulbronn Klosterkirche

Georg Friedrich’s oratorio Israel in Egypt is the ultimate challenge for a choir. The Maulbronn choir met this brilliantly in the two sold-out performances in the Klosterkirche last weekend. In the second performance, which is the one reviewed here, the 47 choristers, the Hanover Hofkapelle, and the soloists showed no sign of tiredness and certainly the conductor, Jürgen Buddy, showed none. He continued the now legendary Handel Oratorio cycle with great brilliance.

There are no fewer than 22 choruses in Israel in Egypt to be mastered, which was, of course, sung in English. From the beginning, the work caused some criticism and it was performed only three timed in Handel’s lifetime. The composer sought the ideal form until the last years of his life. This oratorio differs from others. There is no continuous action. It lacks not only long recitatives and da capo arias but even an overture (in Maulbronn it began with the overture to Solomon). Israel in Egypt is a religious epic poem, possibly compiled by the composer himself from passages of the Old Testament and verses of the Psalms, and is not very exciting dramatically)

And, yet, what an inspiring work, what a challenge for a choir which must have not only staying power but also exhibit all the characteristics of a top quality ensemble whether as one or a double choir. It needs to combine discipline in the fugues with accuracy in the coloratura passages, dramatic attack and a devotion to lyricism. The Maulbronn Chamber Choir meets all these requirements and its fame now extends far beyond its own region. Under its conductor, Jürgen Buddy, it has won many prizes. With Israel in Egypt it has now achieved another milestone in its concert career.

Were I to pick out one of the two dozen choruses it would be number 25 “The people shall hear and be afraid” an example of Handel’s outstanding all-embracing ability as a composer, his musical ability to interpret texts, his instinct for greatness, for humility and for glory. Jürgen Budday’s and his choir’s musicianship made possible an exceptional performance.

That does not mean that I appreciate any less the memorable depictions of the plagues, which God sent over the Egyptians; the annoying frogs, flies and lice (not just “mosquitos” as played down in the German translation); the noise of the hailstones; the harmonious, terrifying darkness; and finally the triumphal destruction of the enemies in the Red Sea – “there was not one of them left”. The percussive noise produced by the timpanist Fritjof Koch left no doubt that they had no chance of escape.

With justification, the public feted the traditionally English-dominated ensemble at the end of the performance. In particular, the Soprano Miriam Allen, the Alto David Allsopp, the tenor Benjamin Hulett (as well as Sarah Wegener, Steffen Balbach, and David Raschinsky) stood out with their perfect performances. Their roles here are less individual than in the oratorios with more action, but they reached high-points as in the virtuoso tenor aria (No 21) and Miriam Allen’s soprano solo introducing the closing chorus “Sing ye to the Lord&rdquo.

It can almost be taken for granted that the Hanover Hofkapelle, with all the desks excellently manned, made a decisive contribution to this emotionally stirring performance (which is by no means necessarily the case with the great demands made by Handel’s orchestral language). Finally, Jürgen Buddy must again be praised. He now conducts – almost celebrates – “his” Handel with superior style, great calm and artistic freedom. So far as Handel oratorios are concerned, Maulbronn has become the first address.

Dr. Dietrich Klose, Vahiniger Kreiszeitung
English Translation © 2010 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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King’s College Choir in St David’s Hall, Cardiff on 20 March 2009

The only previous occasions on which I have heard the choir of King’s College, Cambridge sing ‘live’ have been in King’s College Chapel itself, as part of services there. Hearing them on the concert stage, in the distinctly secular environment of St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, in both a very different acoustic and (to put it mildly) in a very different architectural context, made for a radically different experience. Given, too, that now one was hearing the choir accompanied, not by the Chapel organ (now essentially an instrument of 1934, an enlargement and rebuilding by Harrison and Harrison) but by the excellent period-instrument ensemble Florilegium, then a good deal of adjustment of expectations was clearly called for. Maybe the musicians had to do some adjusting too; certainly the first half of their concert in Cardiff was mildly disappointing, the second half far more satisfying. Or – let’s be honest – it may have been that I was slow in making the necessary adjustments.

The opening performance of Zadok the Priest lacked the full sense of splendour one has come to associate with the piece, and I had the feeling that the acoustic had taken the edge of brightness off both brass and voices. Some moments of slight imprecision of ensemble, when orchestra and choir were not absolutely at one, added to a somewhat unsettled and unsettling feel. This is, of course, to judge by the very highest standards and only to register that, at the opening of the concert, these performers didn’t fully attain the level of performance of which they are so obviously capable. But things began to improve immediately. The choir’s performance (accompanied by chamber organ) of Bach’s Lobet den Herrn (BWV 230) gave us the opportunity fully to enjoy the unique sound of the boy’s voices and the utterly distinctive beauty of tone achieved as those voices were expertly blended with the other youthful male voices. The tenors and basses of the choir were not only impressive in their own right, but gave an exemplary demonstration of how to balance their voices with those of the younger boys. This was a rhythmically assured performance (though one has heard interpretations with a rather greater spring in their step), the complex contrapuntal writing handled with that illusion of great ease achieved only by an experienced and confident choir. The fugal texture was simultaneously clear and dense, and the closing ‘Alleluia’ full of joyful gravity.

The first half of the concert closed with an enjoyable performance of Handel’s 1713 Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne. Orchestra and choir seemed now wholly at one, and seemed also to have come to terms with the acoustic of the hall. The Purcellian elements in Handel’s Ode were particularly evident here – how quickly, after only three years in London, Handel had acquired an understanding of the traditions and conventions of English ceremonial music. Stephen Cleobury’s judgement, and control, of tempo was excellent throughout. In the first section of the Ode, Eternal Source of Light Divine, countertenor David Allsopp (formerly a choral scholar and lay clerk of the King’s College Choir) made a slightly nervous start but once he had settled his interplay with the trumpet of Richard Fromison (at least I assume he was the soloist) was a delight, and the work of Florilegium’s continuo section played a significant role in Handel’s eloquent music of celebration and certainly helped to “add a lustre to this day” (to quote one of the better phrases from Ambrose Philips’ text). In Let All the Winged Race With Joy, soprano Clare Lloyd (another Cambridge graduate – Gonville and Caius College this time – and currently studying at the Royal Academy in London) spun out some long lines attractively and handled some complex ornament with assurance (if not always with a sense of absolute ease). Allsopp was fully into his stride in Let Flocks and Herds their Fear Forget, singing with a winning expressiveness; here and elsewhere the strings of Florilegium played with a ravishing poetry of spirit, tender and strong at the same time. In Let Rolling Streams their Gladness Show, Allsopp was joined by bass Edward Grint (yet another graduate of King’s) in one of Handel’s best duets, very pleasantly sung (though there were moments when Grint was in danger of overpowering Allsopp’s countertenor). Grint was full of expression and accuracy in Let Envy then Conceal her Head, Handel’s writing, Grint’s singing and the strings of Florilegium all combining to evoke the implicitly serpentine imagery of Philips’ text and its many sibilants. In the final chorus Philips’ text is at its most inane and even Handel struggles to make one forget that inanity entirely, though here the choir’s contribution achieved the radiance it had been lacking at the beginning of the concert. With a team of young soloists, a very accomplished instrumental ensemble, and his own choir, Stephen Cleobury had put before us a very decent performance of a fascinating piece.

After the interval we returned to Purcell. And for this listener, at least, it was with the performances of two of Purcell’s loveliest pieces for voices and strings that the highlight of the evening arrived. In his anthem Rejoice in the Lord Alway, Allsopp and Grint were joined by one of the choir’s tenors, Joel Robinson. But the work begins, of course, with an introduction for the strings; full of radiance and glowingly played by Florilegium. The contrasts of mood in Purcell’s piece (some eight minutes long, but altogether grander than a mere measure of duration can imply) are considerable; Grint handled the darker, more supplicatory dimensions of Be careful for nothing … very convincingly and the choir and the other soloists communicated real joy in the recapitulation of the richly affirmative Rejoice in the Lord which closes the work. The second of these pieces for voices and strings was My beloved spake, one of Purcell’s earliest masterpieces, pretty certainly written while the composer was still in his teens. It’s a wonderful work, a setting of verses from The Song of Songs/The Song of Solomon, and well meriting a place on any list of the great musical works inspired by that particular book of the Old Testament. Here Purcell writes for a quartet of solo voices, and the three soloists who had sung in Rejoice in the Lord Always were joined by Ashley Riches, one of the basses from the choir. The vocal blend was perfect, Florilegium’s strings at their seductive best. The whole was a gorgeous union of delicacy and strength – this performance alone would have been worth travelling some distance to hear.

The substantial work with which the programme closed was Vivaldi’s Gloria (RV 589), which probably dates from very much the same time as the Birthday Ode by Handel which had closed the first half of the concert. Lost until the 1920s, this is a work full of contrasts, full of dramatic intensity and powerful emotional statement. It is, unmistakably, the work of a composer who was to become a master of opera (the Gloria was probably written in the early years of Vivaldi’s career as a composer of opera), rather as Verdi’s Requiem smells of greasepaint at least as much as of ecclesiastical incense. In common with most English performances of Vivaldi’s sacred music this performance was relatively deficient in Italianate passion, in the unembarrassedly histrionic. But within the terms of the ‘English’ tradition of the Italian baroque, this was a fine and subtle performance. There was a fair bite to the orchestral playing and the choir – especially in the more tender, quieter passages – often created exquisite effects; in some of the more extrovert sections one might, ideally, have liked just a bit more fire. In Laudamus te, Clare Lloyd was joined by Ruth Jenkins (another Cambridge graduate unsurprisingly – Jesus College this time, and another postgraduate student at the Royal Academy) in a duet sung with authority and precision, the two soprano voices beautifully matched and their lines interwoven with real beauty and sureness. The young voices of the choir were particularly attractive in Gratias agimus tibi and the siciliano (Domine Deus) was sung with particular sensitivity and beauty by Lloyd; the solo oboe of (I presume) Hilary Stock here complementing the soloist in altogether admirable fashion. David Allsopp was at his most impressive in the [Domine Deus,] Agnus Dei, singing with dignified ease and certainty. Instrumental ensemble and voices were perfectly at one and the sound palette vivid and balanced in the closing sections of the work and rounded off a thoroughly worthwhile and enjoyable concert.

Glyn Pursglove, Seen and Heard

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Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool on 8 January 2009

Messiah – David Hill, Philharmonic Hall

How do you ‘reinvent’ Handel’s Messiah to avoid tedium?

The misty-eyed nostalgia for Malcolm Sargent conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Huddersfield Choral Society of old, in a shouting cast-of-thousands production arranged by Hamilton Harty, has well gone.

But after a period of making the world’s most famous oratorio an in-house finale to the Christmas season (even though Messiah is an Easter opus), the past 10 years has seen the novelty of bringing in celebrity guest conductors.

This year it was David Hill, director of Britain’s best choral ensemble, the Bach Choir, as well as the BBC Singers.

Hill’s ecumenical brief is also impressive, having been director of music at St John’s College, Cambridge, and both Winchester and Westminster cathedrals.

In a nimble performance, often of dance-like vivacity, he opted for restraint, letting the invention of the music and timeless power of the libretto speak for themselves (no timpani, for instance, in For Unto Us A Child Is Born).

Yet, among the mainly sure-footed soloists, it was only when counter-tenor [David Allsopp] entered the fray that there was the first true feeling of any sort of evangelism.

Singers, like actors, should believe in what they are performing, and not merely mouth the words.

Later, tenor James Gilchrist duly compensated by bringing an emotion to Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart, only matched by the apostle Peter’s denial in Bach’s Passion music.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, extremely impressive in attack, also admirably maintained unison pitch in the most demanding fortissimo passages.

Bringing the singers forward in the choir stalls aided balance with the reduced orchestra.

But it is the chorus work which makes Messiah an evergreen favourite, and which points up the pre-eminence Handel himself gave to the final section, with its emphasis on immortality.

That is also apparent in the extended nature of the baritone/bass aria, The Trumpet Shall Sound, sung by Roderick Williams, who had earlier distinguished himself in the aria, Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage Together?

Who said Messiah was little more than a spread of ancient texts? Events in Gaza still give much of it a chilling relevance.

Joe Riley, Liverpool Echo (8/10 Hallelujah!)

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Polyphony in St John’s, Smith Square on 21 December 2008

This is the sixth time I have reviewed Polyphony’s Messiah at this venue, and it never ceases to sound as fresh as at the first performance – each year there are differences, some subtle and some not so subtle, yet in every one the choir still manages to achieve the perfect combination of stylish ensemble with what Shaw memorably called ‘attacking the choruses with unembarrassed sincerity of dramatic expression.’ On this occasion, it was Polyphony itself which was the star of the evening, given some less than stellar solo singing as well as a second-half substitution from its ranks.

The sound of the Britten Sinfonia, particularly in the string sections, is definitely the most mellow of the groups which Stephen Layton conducts, and this had the effect of making the work sound more ‘classical’ than ‘baroque’ if one may use such hallowed terms so lightly. Allan Clayton’s tenor negotiated the florid passages of his arias skilfully, the voice very confident in production yet at times lacking in sensitivity and tending towards a little coarseness at the lower end of the stave. Julia Doyle’s soprano was clear and bright, if somewhat unvaried in tone, and Iestyn Davies sang ‘But who may abide’ with his customary cultivated beauty of tone, though clearly not at his best owing to the virus which later caused him to lose his voice altogether.

Davies was replaced for Parts 2 and 3 by David Allsopp, a young member of Polyphony who took over as smoothly as if he had been expecting this all along, and covered himself in glory – ‘He was despised’ ought to have sounded tentative, but instead it was absolutely mellifluous, with exact phrasing – this is a singer to watch, already ‘on the up’ with an impressive list of engagements. Andrew Foster-Williams was a sonorous bass, his powerful voice filling out ‘The people that walked in darkness’ and shaking the rafters with ‘The trumpet shall sound.’

You could not hope for better choral singing than we heard here – from the lightness of ‘For unto us a child is born’ through the excitement of ‘Lift up your heads’ to the thundering ‘Worthy is the Lamb’ this was Polyphony’s evening, yet again – and once more a crammed-full St. John’s acclaimed it.

Melanie Eskenazi, Seen and Heard

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Polyphony in St John’s, Smith Square on 21 December 2008

Seasonal standard with a fresh feel

For some, Handel’s Messiah is one of those traditional fixtures that make Christmas cosy and sentimental, something to be got out of the way as quickly as possible. Yet while Messiah may not have the power to convert the non-believers, its perfect synergy of music and text can be infinitely moving, at least in a performance as urgent as this.

Stephen Layton is a conductor who understands that drama is the key to making Handel’s oratorio work. At faster tempos, his direction was no-nonsense punchy and if when the pace slowed, things tended to get swoony, there was never a feeling of lingering for the sake of underlining this or that passing detail. In that, he was helped by the finesse of Britten Sinfonia, not a baroque specialist orchestra but infinitely adaptable, despite occasional lapses of intonation.

The choir was Polyphony, a virtuoso outfit of such skill that, when a virus forced counter-tenor Iestyn Davies to retire at the interval, David Allsopp stepped out of the chorus to take his place, with no diminution of intensity.

Each soloist made sure that the text hit home, as Handel would have expected. Julia Doyle’s soprano was fresh and clear, although slightly breathless, but tenor Allan Clayton displayed an easy control of line and timbre. The most eloquent singing came from Andrew Foster-Williams. His bass light and flexible, he sang as if telling a story that he really wanted us to understand. That story may be ancient but here it had the urgency of tomorrow’s headlines.

Traditional perhaps, but cosy? Not a bit of it.

Nick Kimberley, Evening Standard (4 Stars)

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Exeter Philharmonic Choir in Exeter Cathedral on 20 May 2008

Exeter Philharmonic Choir in Exeter

Dixit Dominus, a setting of Psalm 110, was written by Handel during his stay in Italy, and Exeter Philharmonic Choir’s performance of this splendidly melodic invention showed a charmed audience in Exeter Cathedral just what a bewitching work it is.

A fine team of soloists – Natalie Clifton-Griffith, Elizabeth Drury, David Allsopp, Iain Macleod-Jones and Daniel Broad – excelled with De torrente in via bibet, with the Sinfonietta matching the singing in every detail.

There was lively appreciation too of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Richard Studt and the Sinfonietta played the familiar lines with the kind of suave elegance that makes the whole thing appear totally effortless. It flowed along irresistibly, sounding bold and fresh and brimful of character.

The main work was Haydn’s so-called Nelson Mass, although the name the composer gave it is Mass in Time of Fear. Frightening things were happening to Austria in 1798 and it shows in this work, written in D minor, a key which somehow conveys something menacing, something to fear.

This was a superb choral offering and counter-tenor David Allsopp was outstanding amid a strong team of soloists.

The Agnus Dei could not have been bettered. There was some incandescent singing from the chorus, full-bodied, with good definition in Confiteor unum baptisma with its glowing Amen.

Andrew Millington directed, which is shorthand for an excellent, memorable and magnificent performance.

Margaret Smith, What’s On South West

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Deutsche Händel-Solisten in Karlsruhe Opera House on 27 February 2008

The successful Händel-Festspiele is drawing to a close

Karlsruhe Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa)

Following years of artistic stagnation and financial stringency, the Karlsruhe Handel Festival are again on the road to success.

Competition from the festivals in Göttingen and Halle had threatened to push the Karlsruhe baroque festival into the second league. But after Baden-Würtenberg’s Minister Präsident Günter Oettinger (CDU) himself settled the budget of the Badischen Staatstheater, so from this year, there are sufficient funds. The result is a very diverse programme, an enthusiastic public and favourable to enthusiastic reviews in the regional and national press. The 31st Karlsruhe Handel Festival will end on Monday 3rd March, with the traditional festival concert given by the Deutschen Händel-Solisten.

In the thirty years of its existence, the Karlsruhe Handel Festival has concentrated particularly on the some 50 operas composed by the German-English master of baroque. The “Karlsruhe effect” is one of the important factors in the Handel operas becoming staple fare in the repertoires of German opera houses. Handel has progressed from being the baroque freaks’ well-kept secret to being a winner with the public. The première of “Giulio Ceasare in Egitto” at the Badischen Staatstheater was the centrepiece of the 31st Festival. Peer Boysens’s candyfloss, colourful, production of Caesar’s erotic military war on Egypt and Cleopatra was a four-hour stimulating diversion.

The musical contrasts between the two oratorios which were performed – “Susanna”, one of Handel’s late works and “La Resurrezione”, written when he was 22 – were particularly interesting. “Susanna” was given a top-class performance by the Deutsche Händel-Solisten under conductor Christian Curnyn, whom The Times called one of our “best young Handelians”. Silvia Hablowetz in the title role and David Allsopp as Joachim stood out from the cast. Allsopp, who teaches [computer science] at Cambridge as a sideline, proved to be a highly intelligent, vocally brilliant, countertenor.

Karlsruhe does not rely only on proven musical practice. The Internationale Händel-Akademie, which was holding its 23rd session, is concerned with teaching a new generation of singers and instrumentalists correct baroque style in “Spiele der Liebe” [games of love] the new Handel-generation performed two cantatas. Sigrid T’Hooft, the choreographer and music academic and a specialist in baroque staging, produced a performance by the students of the kind which Handel himself might have experienced.

Manfred Kraft, Badische Neueste Nachrichten
English Translation © 2008 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Deutsche Händel-Solisten in Karlsruhe Opera House on 27 February 2008

Exciting and brilliant Oratorio “Susanna”

The oratorio “Susanna” is something of a rarity among Handel’s many biblical oratorios. It is true that its first performance earned a tidy sum for its creator, but there were very few subsequent performances. This is difficult to understand. The anonymous librettist presents the well-known story of the chaste Susanna, the two lascivious Elders, their false accusations and Susanna’s rescue by the young [Daniel] like a thriller.

The music shows Handel at the height of his powers, although it is perhaps too light and vibrant for the tragic plot. Moreover, the choir acts only as commentator and its subsidiary role may reduce the work’s attraction for a choir conductor. But the Händel-Festspiele can afford to set other priorities and the choice of this work was absolutely right.

Christian Curnyn was the conductor. The Times praised him as “our best young Handelian”, and it is almost impossible to add anything to this verdict. We have not heard a more interesting, rhythmical, dynamic and graceful Handel conductor here for years. The Deutschen Händel-Solisten were in top form under his direction. All the instrumental groups played masterfully. The 18-strong, beautifully trained Chamber Choir of Europe, appeared at the Festival for the second time. While the choir has not yet reached the standard of the Clare College Choir it is well on the way there.

Also the soloists left nothing to be desired, in spite of the great demands made of them. Silvia Hablowetz – in the title role – brought out all its nuances. Her mezzo sounded touchingly beautiful and had the veiled sadness which is what is needed to bring out the greatness of baroque music. David Allsopp sang her husband Joachim with his light and flexible alto and presented him as a faithful, but helpless, anti-hero. Susanna’s father, Chelsias, was in the best of hands with Simon Bailey, whose light and immensely fluent bass voice is ideal for baroque music.

It is remarkable that Mika Kares, who sang the second Elder, did not lag behind the other, more specialised, singers. In spite of his unsympathetic part, his beautiful timbre and wonderful coloratura won everyone over.

Benjamin Bruns was an excellent replacement for the indisposed Bernhard Berchthold, and sang the First Elder most convincingly with his warm oratorio tenor. There could hardly have been a more ideal [Daniel] than Diana Tomsche. Her young, fresh, soprano was ideal and evoked particular enthusiasm in the great aria about chastity. The public showed its enthusiasm for the unjustly underrated work and the applause only finished when the conductor, whom we should very much like to see again, sent the orchestra off the stage.

Manfred Kraft, Badische Neueste Nachrichten
English Translation © 2008 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Deutsche Händel-Solisten in Karlsruhe Opera House on 27 February 2008

Chamber Concert and the oratorio “Susanna”

…

Whole operas in the head

The first part [of the concert] ended with Gluck’s symphony in D major played thrillingly by the Händel-Solisten. According to Darmstadt, Gluck was Handel’s pupil and a difficult character. All his operas were first composed entirely his head and Gluck then wrote them down. It’s possible that Gluck died with his best opera still only in his mind. In addition to Purcell’s Fantasia in D minor, still composed in the old polyphonic style, the second part consisted of music by Handel-the D minor “Concerto a Quattro” and the harpsichord concerto HWV 291. That is actually an organ concerto with the inclusion of Fugue HWV 6. The virtuosity of harpsichordist Rien Voskuilen came into its own here as did his colleagues’ sureness and lively playing. Darmstadt says that the Fugue showed that that Handel had also mastered the art of fugue, citing the Master of Halle’s 323, the origin of his famous remark that he did not want only to entertain the public but also wanted to make people better.

The baroque “Fidelio”

A work typifying this wish of Handel’s is the oratorio “Susanna”, one of his last compositions, the libretto of which has a moral purpose. This is in the legendary style of Handel’s later compositions, which led to Mozart and to the expression of great musical humanity, in order to touch the hearts of men. This unjustly neglected oratorio is not a comic opera, it is a hymn of praise to fidelity and to a good and virtuous life. It is more or less a baroque “Fidelio”. Its performance at the Händel Festspiele, fortunately with only a few cuts, was a convincing plea for its worth and brought out its musical attractiveness most beautifully.

That was owing to the soloists, the playing of the Deutsche Händel-Solisten and the light, but always clearly enunciated, singing of the Chamber Choir of Europe. The ensemble had already proved its worth two years ago in Nicol Matt’s production in Karlsruhe in the CD of “Israel in Egypt”. The playing of the Deutsche Händel-Solisten produced a whole spectrum of sound and a flexibility of interpretation. Not least, the performance was to the credit of the young Scottish conductor, Christian Curnyn>. He brought out most winningly the soft and intimate parts of the music, but in contrast gave the rhythmically brusque part of the music depicting the lustful Elders a sharp outline.

Silvia Hablowetz sang the title role with exquisite line, refined tone and – in the final coloratura aria – brilliant virtuosity. David Allsopp, information scientist and very gifted countertenor, produced pearls of baroque belcanto in Joachim’s arias and carried conviction with his polished singing. Simon Bailey interpreted Chelsias and the Judge with strength and dignity. With her soft soprano, Diana Tomsche was an ethereal and pure Daniel. Benjamin Bruns and Mika Kares sang the two perfidious lechers. Kares brought out the vile brutality of one most tellingly. Bruns personified the slimy falseness of the other very effectively.

Nils Nager, Die Rheinpfalz
English Translation © 2008 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Leeds Philharmonic Chorus in Leeds Town Hall on 23 February 2008

Leeds Philharmonic Chorus & Camerata Concert Orchestra

David Hill, who manages to lead an astonishingly full professional musical schedule, is undoubtedly an inspiration to the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus whose musical director he became three years ago.

Their performance of John Rutter’s Requiem, in which Leeds Girls’ High School’s choir participated, reflected in every detail of balance and dynamic shading an impressive commitment to a simple and beautiful gift to the choral repertoire. The support of the Camerata Concert Orchestra was excellent, and the soprano soloist Elizabeth Cragg sang Pie Jesu with a pure clarity as delightful as it is rare.

John Tavener’s “mystical love-song”, Lament for Jerusalem, written in 2002, is a sequence of seven cycles, each with a choral passage from Psalm 137, a short instrumental “cosmic lament”, an extract from the Islamic Masnavi sung exquisitely by counter-tenor David Allsopp, a further section of the psalm given to soprano Elizabeth Cragg, and ending with choral Alleluias. In spite of the increasing ecstasy of the closing passages, each repetition after the third proved wearisome, and the texts (Greek and Islamic) uncomfortably distant. The performers entered boldly and successfully into the presentation of a substantial and challenging piece.

Patric Standford, Yorkshire Post (4 Stars)

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Stuttgarter Kantorei in the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart on 9 & 10 November 2007

Full of Passion and Inspiration

Collegiate Church: the Stuttgarter Kantorei sings Handel’s “Israel in Egypt”

For a long time Handel’s oratorio “Israel in Egypt” suffered under the stigma of its unsuccessful first performance in 1739. That was not the fault of the music. Handel’s contemporaries already acknowledged its first-rate quality. But it just went against the grain of strict puritans that the composer had written an oratorio with a religious theme and giving it clearly recognisable theatrical characteristics. That is the very reason why contemporary listeners find this work so attractive.

Now Kay Johannsen has performed this closet opera with his Stuttgarter Kantorei and Ensemble 94 in the Collegiate Church with proper respect for the subject and the passion necessary to do justice to Handel, that magnificent teller of tales. Johannsen chose finely balanced slow tempi for the lament of the Israelites at the death of Joseph in order to express their anguished, full of foreboding, grief. Johannsen demanded a great deal from his choir – amongst other things the change between mezzo and full voice singing, which succeeded admirably. Moreover, Johannsen took great care so as to achieve musically expressive singing. He treated the orchestra as the mirror image and partner of the choir. This filled the audience with excited anticipation, which continued during part 3, “Moses’s Song”, not least because of the outstanding cast of soloists. Ines Lex and Sandra Hartmann (sopranos) sang music which lies on the border between an opera aria and a simple hymn enchantingly. David Allsopp (alto) offered something to please the lovers of calm, beautiful sound. Andreas Weller (tenor) demonstrated how much work Handel had devoted to produce nuances of tonal colour. Thomas Scharr and Ekkehard Abele (bass) conjured up Handel’s great rhetorical skill. Lengthy applause.

Stuttgarter Zeitung
English Translation © 2008 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Stuttgarter Kantorei in the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart on 9 & 10 November 2007

The Stuttgarter Kantorei sings Handel in the Collegiate Church

The Lord of the Flies

It speaks for the quality and self-confidence of a choir when it feels able to tackle Handel’s oratorio “Israel in Egypt”.

The quality was evident and the self-confidence fully justified in the two evening performances given by the Stuttgarter Kantorei in the Collegiate Church under the direction of district choirmaster Kay Johanssen.

Since this piece is primarily a collective reaction to the exodus from Egypt, there are no fewer than 32 four to eight-part choral movements to be mastered – a task which the choir managed with outstanding success with its well-blended voices and clear diction. Johannsen worked hard to achieve balance between the vocal groups, clarity of line as well as effective tone in the passage “Who is like unto Thee”. In movements such as “Their bodies are buried in peace” and “The Lord shall reign” the choir succeeded in producing enormously expressive moments.

Leaving aside temporary lapses of concentration and intonation, Handel’s lovely music depicting nature, the plagues of the flies and the frogs and a genuine, ominous, darkness found a convincing response – which is also true of the accompanying Ensemble 94.

Among the good soloists, the most convincing were the outstanding soprano Ines Lex, the tenor Andreas Weller and the young alto David Allsopp (whose very even, straight-tone, almost ethereal singing is typical of an English countertenor). Long applause paid tribute to this evening’s tour de force and particularly to the choir.

Susanne Benda, Stuttgarter Nachrichten
English Translation © 2008 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Stuttgarter Kantorei in the Stiftskirche, Stuttgart on 9 & 10 November 2007

Kay Johannsen conducts Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” in Stuttgart’s Collegiate Church

George Friedrich Handel’s oratorio “Isarael in Egypt” stands out in musical history as a unique choral work. Even the baroque skills of imitation had never before succeeded in producing a naturalistic sound palette such as the [musical] description of the plague, which God brought down on the Egyptians. Even more unique is the tension which Handel builds up with his eight-part choir to ever-new climaxes: from the demisemiquavers depicting the plague of flies, the hail and thunder storms, and the timpani representing the waters of the Red Sea washing over the Israelites’ pursuers. The brilliant orchestral music forms the backdrop, and the choir becomes the stage for the epic-dramatic scene of divine retribution. Handel’s emulators from Haydn to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy drew on his art. Nevertheless, this primarily choral work in which the soloists play a subordinate role, does pose a problem – the lack of a first part. Traditional performances make do with two specially-composed pieces of music – “Exodus” and “Moses’s song”. But Kay Johannsen used the original 1739 version. In that version Handel began the work with a re-working of his funeral anthem for the funeral of Queen Caroline to a different text, which is a lament for the death of Joseph, the leader and patron saint of the Israelites in Egypt.

The quality of this mournful music does not come up to that of the subsequent grandiose music. The three-part choral music with hardly any rests is a challenge of marathon proportions but the Stuttgart Kantorei met it brilliantly. A few problems with intonation and entries did not affect the power of the triumphal climaxes in the third part. Johansson had coached his singers not only to only to express power and polyphonic clarity but also restraint and remarkable dynamic flexibility. Only a little vigour was lacking from time to time.

The clear-cut playing of the strings of Ensemble 94 brought out Handel’s sharply delineated rhythms. There were a few weaknesses in the trombone playing and the timpani sank a little under the waters of the Red Sea at the soloists’ entrance.

The soloists were of the highest quality, particularly the flexible and sonorous basses of Tomas Scharr and Ekkehard Abele and Andreas Weller’s well-produced tenor. The soprano Ines Lex sang a brilliant finale after a few initial uncertainties. Her colleague, Sandra Hartman, shone with her light timbre. David Allsopp produced some fine cantabile singing, after a slightly thin-voiced start.

Martin Mezger, Eßlinger Zeitung
English Translation © 2007 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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I heard a voice — Music of the Golden Age (EMI Classics, released 8 October 2007)

King’s College, Cambridge: I Heard a Voice — Music of the Golden Age

Last year’s choir challenges the present students as the academic year begins with this disc of music by Weelkes, Gibbons and Tomkins.

The choral sound is beautifully balanced in the ethereal acoustic. The soloists are names to note, especially the alto David Allsopp in Most Mighty and All-Knowing Lord. The tenor John McMunn exquisitely decorates This is the Record of John with Fretwork’s viols in warm, plaintive accompaniment. There are two versions each of Hosanna to the Son and When David Heard. Weelkes’s is the finer — indeed, his setting of the latter is one of the greatest of all anthems.

Rick Jones, The Times (4 Stars)

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Maulbronner Kammerchor in Maulbronn Monastery, 19 & 20 May 2007

Love in the time of war

Handel’s oratorio Joshua was performed successfully.

MAULBRONN. Events have come full circle. 10 years ago Joshua opened the Maulbronner Klosterkonzerte cycle of Handel Oratorios about the leading personalities and kings of the Old Testament. Now Joshua has been performed again in the original English under the direction of Jürgen Budday.

Oratorios recorded on CD

The first performance of the oratorio at the Maulbronner Klosterkonzerte was before the formation of the successful and internationally acclaimed partnership between the Maulbronner Klosterkonzerte and Landauer K&K Verlagsanstalt [a publishing company], which was set up to record the concerts on CD.

Following the performances of the original versions of Jephta, Samson, Judas Maccabeus, Saul, Solomon, Belshazzar and the Messiah—as well as Mozart’s version of the Messiah—it made sense to perform Joshua again and so to provide an opportunity to record it for inclusion in the forthcoming CD. We can look forward to this CD with pleasure, given the nearly faultless performance by Jürgen Buddday, the Hannoverische Hofkapelle which has long been associated with the director of the Maulbronner Klosterkonzerte, the inspiring quartet of soloists and the Maulbrunner Kammerchor on top form.

Even though the original performance of Joshua in 1748 was a considerable success, the oratorio has since been largely neglected because Handel recycled the successful chorus See the conquering hero comes in other works.

This neglect is difficult to understand, given the richness of the musical and dramatic content of the performance at Maulbronn. Handel’s librettist, Thomas Morell, provided a drama in which the love affair between Othniel and Achsa is a romantic counterpoint to the warlike deeds of Joshua and his successful campaigns, accompanied by the improvised fanfares of the excellent trumpets of the Hannoverische Hofkapelle. Handel, with his innate feeling for music drama, deals as fascinatingly with dramatic scenes, such as the conquest of Jericho and the subsequent miraculous victory over the King of the Ammorhites, as with Othniel’s and Achsah’s relationship.

Budday succeeds in providing an effective contrast between the martial scenes and those concerned with the radiant inner world of the lovers, bearing in mind that Othniel has to prove himself as a warrior before he is permitted to marry Achsah. The Hannoverische Hofkapelle plays in historically accurate style without sounding thin or bloodless, although the sound is occasionally blurred by the echoing accoustics of the church. Special praise is due to the continuo ensemble.

Budday sets strong rhythms and provides sensitive support for his soloists and the well-prepared and well-balanced Maulbrunner Kammerchor, which combines transparency and beauty of tone. Where required, the comparatively small choir shows sufficient dramatic potential, for example, in See the conquering hero come. In the D major chorus of rejoicing and the C minor “Chorarioso” for the temporarily-defeated Israelites the extensive contrasts in expression were perfectly shaped. The soloists also contributed to the enthusiastic reception of the oratorio; only James Rutherford’s somewhat rough and not very focussed bass, did not quite reach the high level of his colleagues’ singing.

Miriam Allan, as an ardent lover, has a clear and agile soprano which clearly shows the influence of her teacher, Emma Kirby. Her voice has an effortless top range and has a somewhat bright but attractive timbre.

Stylistic accuracy and faultless technique also characterised Mark Le Brocq’s tenor who managed to give Handel’s somewhat one-dimensional hero distinctive character. David Allsopp’s voice has a very soft timbre and carries effortlessly, which enabled him to express the ardour of the lover as well as Othniel’s later heroic aspect.

Thomas Weiss, Pforzheimer Zeitung
English Translation © 2007 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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The KlosterKonzert Maulbronn Handel Cycle continues with an impressive performance of Joshua

A thrilling oratorio performance

The KlosterKonzert Maulbronn and, in particular, their artistic director Jürgen Buddy, have gained international acclaim with their systematic performances over many years of the cycle of Handel oratorios. The weekend’s performance of Joshua—composed in 1747—takes its rightful place in the series of brilliant performances of oratorios which the Baroque master composed during his time in London.

Music lovers were able to enjoy two impressive performances in the Klosterkirche, Maulbronn. Handel composed this oratorio in only a month. It is as powerful, sublime, and as full of musical effects as the other works already performed in Maulbronn.

It is really inconceivable given the dramatic force, yet intimate expression, which characterises Joshua. The oratorio concerns the biblical account of Joshua’s (Moses’s successor) deeds and battles to bring together all the peoples of Israel and show them the way to a future.

Treatment of such a subject must, of course, include heroic calls to battle and the proclamation of great aims, which is why the oratorio includes passages of martial music. But these are followed by lyrical, sensitive and emotional passages which include colourful and glowing music depicting nature.

Conductor Jürgen Budday’s great achievement and that of the cultivated voices of the Maulbrunner Kammerchor and of an ideal quartet of soloists, was to give an exciting and high quality performance. The performances on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon each ran for three hours, including an interval.

As in all great oratorios, the Maulbrunner Kammerchor had to fulfil the largest, but also the most musically attractive and demanding, role. It was again the 40-strong choir, with its ability to shape the music and its well-balanced voices, which again lent charisma to the performances.

The Hannoverschen Hofkapelle, which has been closely involved in the Handel cycle, also captivated with its perfect playing on its period instruments. The musicians lent a richness of tone to the silvery and grandiose splendour of the baroque music. The quartet of soloists Miriam Allan (soprano), David Allsopp (alto), Mark Le Brocq (tenor) and James Rutherford (bass) also merit the highest praise. Jürgen Buddy has been successful again in finding singers for the KlosterKonzert Maulbronn, who are considered as widely experienced singers of Handel oratorios and also have voices which are a pleasure to listen to.

Miriam Allan, a pupil of Emma Kirkby, who has appeared several times in Maulbronn has an angelic and versatile voice. The young singer fascinates with her sensitive and immensely flexible coloratura. David Allsopp’s alto voice is warm yet still vigorous in its top range. Mark Le Brocq’s tenor is just as flexible. He interprets strikingly and thrillingly both the heroic passages in which Joshua calls for the attack on Jericho and those in which he later encourages the defeated Israelites to renew their resistance to their enemies. James Rutherford used his brilliant bass to describe dramatically both destruction and the mourning over the humiliating defeat of Joshua’s army.

This moving, exhilarating and thrilling performance of Joshua has greatly enriched the KlosterKonzert Maulbronn. It will soon be able to be heard on CD.

Rudolf Wesner, Mühlacker Tagblatt
English Translation © 2007 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Maulbronner Kammerchor in Maulbronn Monastery, 19 & 20 May 2007

To Jericho with trumpets and trombones

The Maulbronner Handel cycle continued brilliantly with “Joshua”

The Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Jephta, Samson, Judas Maccabaus, Saul, Solomon, Belchazzar – these are all works which make the heart of every fan of Handel oratorios beat faster. When Jürgen Budday and Maulbronn are associated with these works, the aficionados smack their lips. We are talking about the unique cycle in the Klosterkirche, which has for years been one of the high points of the season of Kloster concerts and now enjoys a reputation extending far beyond the region (not least because of the K&K Verlagsanstalt Landau’s impressive live recordings on CD.)

The cycle resumed last weekend. After an interval of ten years Joshua was again on the programme. The excellent, award-winning Maulbronner Kammerchor and the equally distinguished Hannover Hofkapelle played in an ideal partnership with a quartet of outstanding British soloists – of authentic Handel provenance – under Jürgen Budday’s competent and thrilling direction.

In the words of a review in the Vaihinger Kreiszeitung of 5 October 2006 – “Budday conducts Handel with stupendous authority. With the Kammerchor and the Hofkapelle he has instruments at his disposal which realise his ideas perfectly. The expressive, polished and coloratura singing of the 40 members of the Kammerchor and their clear enunciation of the words is such that the Kammerchor need fear no comparison with the most famous choirs in the region.” This is really all that today’s review need say because nothing annoys critics and readers more than repetition – particularly of praise. But that would be too simple and would not do.

Let us therefore single out a few of the outstanding moments of Saturday’s performance and – ladies first – begin with the wonderful Miriam Allen. With her crystal clear and beautifully controlled soprano she sang the role of Achsa most convincingly both in the dramatic and the lyrical passages. In her first aria “Oh, who can tell” she gives heartfelt praise for the liberation of Israel from Egyptian captivity. Her growing love for Othniel, the son of the old campaigner Chaleb (James Rutherford who has a splendid, flexible bass voice) is expressed in a musical interpretation of bird song in the aria “Hark, ’tis the linnet and the thrush”. Her duet with Othniel expresses their mutual love – Romeo and Juliet beckon from the balcony. Handel’s music compensates effortlessly for the lack of poetic feeling in Morley’s libretto – he was no Shakespeare. In this scene, the young Alto, David Allsopp, makes a very successful first appearance at Maulbronn, both as an ardent lover (Act 2) and as a radiant hero (Act 3) with his marvellous singing in both the coloratura passages and in the cadenzas. He should regard it as the greatest compliment that he almost makes one forget Michael Chance, a Maulbronn favourite in previous years. The composer did not, of course write a “hit” for the Alto such as Achasas’s aria “Oh! had I Jubal’s lyre” which Miriam Allen delivered with virtuosity at breakneck speed. The lady bass players of the Hannover band and their less numerous male colleagues are very familiar with Handel’s martial music. They can find the correct sound, whether for victory or defeat, in their sleep. But they are required to perform additional feats in Joshua, which they do in masterly fashion, for example, when the unconquerable waters of the Jordan part, in the solemn march to which the Ark is carried round the walls of Jericho and in the mighty blast of trumpets, horns and cymbals marking the apocryphal fall of the walls of Jericho.

The Maulbronner Kammerchor sang these scenes brilliantly, gilding the instrumental sound with vocal splendour. This was true also of the legendary scene when Jehovah stops the sun and the moon during the battle at Gibeon until the Israelites have won. Handel, Mark LeBroque (Tenor) as Joshua – in another successful appearance at Maulbronn – and the chorus play an equal part in this cosmic miracle.

Has enough been said about the Conductor Jürgen Budday? Certainly it is his exploration of the exceptional effects and his artistic sense, tonal imagination, precision, staying power and verve which created the whole Handel panorama and carried us away. The ovation in the sold-out Klosterkirche for him and all the participants in the performance – the “dream team” – was fully justified.

Dr. Dietrich Klose, Vaihinger Kreiszeitung
English Translation © 2007 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Maulbronner Kammerchor in Maulbronn Monastery, 19 & 20 May 2007

Rheinpfalz
English Translation © 2007 Hanni Helps

(View the original German review)

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Canterbury Choral Society in Canterbury Cathedral, 24 March 2007

This was a wonderful performance of J. S. Bach’s St John Passion by Canterbury Choral Society, conducted by Richard Cooke, together with Sinfonia Britannica. From the orchestra’s very first chords and the first chorus entry, with the arresting repeated Herr, right through to the final chorale, the performers held the attention of the audience with attack, virtuosity and great variations of mood and tempo. The Evangelist’s part, beautifully sung by Daniel Norman (tenor), set the tone for the evening with such clear diction that no German speaker needed to look at the words in the programme. His rendering was spine-chilling when he sang of Peter’s weeping as he realised that he had denied Jesus three times. In place of the indisposed Matthew Rose (bass), Cathedral lay clerk Duncan Perkins and Michael Pearce, both at short notice, sang with aplomb. The other soloists, Julia Doyle (soprano), David Allsopp (counter-tenor) and David Knight (tenor), also gave a very good account of themselves in the arias. For me, the highlights of these were the counter-tenor aria Es ist vollbracht and the soprano aria Zerfliesse mein Herze, both accompanied with great style by the continuo players Helen Verney (cello) and Steven Devine (organ). The members of the choral society excelled themselves throughout, barely putting a foot wrong in a demanding series of chorales, arias and choruses, maintaining an impressive, disciplined and energetic presence at all times. Anyone who missed this concert certainly missed a treat and I would recommend that they should put the date of the next concert — June 23, featuring Britten, Vaughan Williams and Elgar — into their diaries now.

Ian Thompson, Kentish Gazette

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The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester 1 December 2003

A large audience came to Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall to hear King’s perform what was an interesting programme. The Kodály Missa Brevis is a beautiful work, which settled down nicely after a slightly ragged beginning. The Qui tollis provided the first of many showcases for David Allsopp’s utterly glorious countertenor, and this section, together with the Agnus Dei were particularly delicious. Leos Janáček’s Otčenáš followed and I felt that the choir sounded much more relaxed than previously.

After the interval we were treated to Psalm 90 by Ives, accompanied by four percussionists underpinned by a constant organ pedal — an unusual and compelling work that I had not heard before. Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb was given a fine performance, with characterful playing from Ashley Grote, and beautiful solo singing from one of the trebles and also David Allsopp. Allsopp had a busy night as he also sang the solos in the Bernstein Chichester Psalms and he, together with Mark Norman on percussion, Sioned Williams on the harp and Ashley Grote was the making of this otherwise disappointing performance. The problem with the Bernstein, as with other parts of this concert, was that while it was splendidly accurate (and one would expect nothing less, of course) on a musical level it was rather unexciting and polite. Quite the reverse of what one needs at the beginning of the Chichester Psalms. The result was that I and other concertgoers around me left feeling rather underwhelmed. For me the making of this concert was David Allsopp, the unnamed treble in the Britten, and some marvellous instrumental playing.

Tom Bell, The Organ Magazine