This was, surprisingly, the first
ever complete performance at the Proms of the work which Winton Dean
called ‘one of the supreme masterpieces of dramatic art, comparable
with the Oresteia and King Lear.’ Oh, come now – it’s
a lovely piece, containing some of the composer’s most characteristic
arias, but on a dramatic level it hardly stands comparison with Pericles,
let alone King Lear. No matter: it deserves to be heard more
frequently, and it’s such a pity that the only version available to
us nowadays appears to be this rather turgid one, redeemed only by the
presence of the wondrous Andreas Scholl as David – this is the second
time this season that I’ve heard more or less the same forces performing
it, which I assume means that the forthcoming recording is getting plenty
of advance hype. Those who loved the work this evening will certainly
gain great pleasure from hearing Scholl on the recording, but until
that emerges I would suggest listening to the one conducted by John
Eliot Gardiner which to me provides a far more dramatically and musically
engaging concept of the piece.
I suppose ‘relaxed’ would be the
word for the tempi, although Paul McCreesh seemed to have some rather
wayward interpretations, two obvious examples being the duet ‘O fairest
of ten thousand fair / O lovely maid’ which was taken at a positively
skipping pace in contrast to the stately, gentle speed at which it usually
enfolds, and neither Deborah York nor Scholl were helped by having to
take it at such a lick: the second example was ‘O fatal consequence’
which was sung and played as though it were not a lament for a catastrophic
deed but a pleasant commentary on a scenic day out. Fortunately the
death march was appropriately solemn.
There was some beautiful playing
to savour here, especially amongst the strings in ‘Along the monster
atheist strode’ and the horns during the accompanied recitative ‘By
thee this universal frame,’ and the chorus acquitted themselves well
despite seeming to be held back at moments where I would have expected
a little more forcefulness in attack. The solo parts were mostly competently
taken, although I question whether that is enough: it was of course
incredibly hot as usual in the hall, so perhaps some of the lacklustre
singing could be thus accounted for. Neal Davies presented a fairly
convincing Saul, always singing tastefully and with the right amount
of imperious bluster, and Susan Gritton was a sympathetic Merab, haughty
in her aria ‘What abject thoughts’ whilst managing to be believable
when she accepts her sister’s choice; ‘Author of peace’ was one of the
evening’s high points. I was less happy with Deborah York’s singing:
I have not heard her often, but she seems to garner raves from many
quarters, but as yet I don’t see anything exceptional. It is a small,
piping voice, mostly quite clear and musical although her diction is
often muddy and her tone rather thin – indisposition, perhaps.
Mark Padmore is another singer
who collects rave reviews everywhere he goes: I admit to having given
him one myself, for his ENO St. John Evangelist, but I am still waiting
to hear him give another performance like that one. His voice is quite
powerful, and he clearly loves this music with a passion, but the tone
lacks individuality and he misses the tenderness needed for this role:
such phrases as ‘darling of my Soul’ were factual rather than loving,
and his singing of ‘Birth and fortune’ was disappointing in that he
did very little with that wonderful line ‘From virtue let my friendship
rise’ where there should be an airy trill at the end. He works hard
at the music, so one can only hope that the recording will show him
in a better light.
Every superlative has already
been employed for Andreas Scholl, and I’ve used most of them myself,
so it is probably best to convey his performance by the description
of just one piece, ‘O Lord, whose mercies numberless.’ Overall, this
was not the finest rendition I have heard him give – there were small
faults here and there – but his liquid tone, his lucent enunciation,
his perfect phrasing and his fluent decorations remain unsurpassed.
The quality of the silence with which the audience receives his singing
has to be experienced to be believed: whatever critics may say about
Proms audiences (and I know I’ve said plenty) they certainly understood
how to take in this aria with a kind of trance-like raptness which I
last saw….oh, probably the last time I heard him sing. Scholl is one
of the true greats of our time, by which I mean that his is a unique
voice allied to a strikingly individual and intelligent mind, and it
was a renewed joy to hear him sing David.
The smaller parts were well taken,
with the ubiquitous Jonathan Lemalu sonorously effective as the Ghost
of Samuel and the sweet-toned Angus Smith persuasive as the Amalekite.
The trouble was that the whole thing just lacked verve: for those who
like their Handel with a bit of sparkle, this was a long evening, even
though it was much relieved by Scholl’s singing of such lines as ‘Great
was the Pleasure I enjoy’d in thee, And more than Woman’s Love thy wondrous
Love to me!’
Melanie Eskenazi
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