Handel Israel in Egypt:
The Collegiate Chorale and the American Symphony
Orchestra, James Bagwell (Conductor), Skirball Center for the
Performing Arts, New York University, NYC, 12.5.2010, (SSM)
Sari
Gruber, Soprano
Megan
Taylor, Soprano
Brian
Asawa, Countertenor
Rufus
Müller, Tenor
Ron
Loyd, Baritone
Robert
Osborne, Bass-baritone
We
probably all know at least one story of a composer whose great works
were not appreciated in his time. Whether it's Emperor Joseph II's
complaint that The Marriage of Figaro had "too many
notes”; Mark Twain's comment, “I have been told that
Wagner's music is better than it sounds”; or Rossini on the
same composer, “Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of
an hour” – we often feel superior to those who couldn't
hear the “true” music. According
to Christopher Hogwood in his biography of Handel, the first
performance of Israel in Egypt had
such “high density of choral writing” and “such
scarce opportunities for solo virtuosity” that the audience was
numbed. Even with a second performance that Handel billed as
“shortened and Intermix'd with Song,” it failed.
If I never had heard this oratorio before, I would have had to agree
with Handel's audience's complaints about this work. Part I in this
particular performance has eleven consecutive choruses without a
break. To make matters worse, the chorus of 150 so overwhelmed the
twenty-five piece orchestra that you couldn't turn your attention to
the instrumental accompaniment for relief from sonic overload. And
that was a shame, because the orchestra plays some delightful music
as can be heard in the arias. Note, for example, the trumpet-like
oboes in “The Lord is a Man of War.” (Sir Malcom Sargent
in his classic 1955 recording actually substituted trumpets here for
the oboes, stating almost convincingly for purists like me that he
was sure that if Handel had had our modern-day valved trumpets, which
are capable of playing this music, he would have used them.)
There are many versions of this oratorio, some with three parts, some
with two, some with overtures, some starting out with only a
recitative, some with as many as fifty-two movements or more, some
with as few as half that. The real issue here though is not which
edition is used but how each version produces the most satisfying
musical experience given the number of performers involved. It is
understandable that if the Collegiate Chorale contains 200 members,
you would want as many as possible to perform. You would also want to
make sure that the music chosen would be suitable for the size of the
chorus and orchestra. I assume some attempt was made to do this,
since there were only about 150 singers in this production's chorus.
If reducing the chorus by twenty-five percent doesn't work (which, in
this case, it doesn't), then the size of the orchestra should be
increased. Except for the parts where Handel specified a double
chorus, the singers could be split so that that each half of the
chorus sings a number in turn.
As for the soloists, the two sopranos were adequate. The countertenor,
Brian Asawa, could have controlled his histrionics a bit, but only he
and tenor Rufus Müller s seemed to be awake and alert enough to attempt (though unsuccessfully) to spark some espirit de corps. At
least these singers, in contrast to the two other male singers, were
in key. If the rest of the production were even minimally adequate I
would have felt that the baritone and bass made some effort, but
baritone Ron Loyd had minor intonation problems, and bass-baritone
Robert Osborne sang neither as a bass nor as a baritone. I don't
remember when I last wished I could turn my ears off, so insufferable
was his singing.
To
quote from a most intelligent review
of a previous performance of Israel
in Egypt conducted by James
Bagwell back in 2007 with a different chorus and orchestra, “Just
what went wrong here? I don't believe that the conductor, James
Bagwell, is entirely to blame, although his interpretation came
across as fussy and lacking in spirit, especially the festive
Handelian spirit we all love.” I would have to be less kind and
say that I'd give him one more strike and he'd be out.
Stan Metzger
