Handel vocal recital discs have been dominated of late by music
for sopranos, mezzos and counter-tenors, and often as not duets
for combinations thereof. They have invariably struck a glamorous
pose. The cover art of the booklet for this disc, in contrast,
depicts Peter Paul Rubens’ c.1609 Samson and Delilah.
Christopher Purves, soberly dressed, in black and white, is
represented only by a small photograph on page twelve. The recital
is not an obvious star vehicle: no charismatic and photogenic
poses are struck. Instead, these ‘base arias’ -
the spelling is intended - reveal Purves are something far more
important than a purveyor of coloratura and flighty roulades.
He takes some of Handel’s gravest and most dignified music,
from oratorios and operas principally, and adds to it some of
his most technically demanding, to present a disc of great authority
and consummate musical intelligence.
I have seen Purves on the concert platform several times and
he has a strong physical presence. Sometimes singers with this
quality don’t manage to communicate it in the studio environment.
Purves, however, invariably seems to do so. It helps that the
programme has been cannily selected to reveal not only the dramatic
potential of the music but its variety as well: the bass as
buffo or as loving father, as schemer or as reflective loner.
Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto from Rinaldo
reveals another thing too, which is the consistent excellence
of Jonathan Cohen’s direction and the group Arcangelo’s
very personable and individualistic instrumental contributions.
I also like all the tempo decisions. This particular aria is
taken just a shade slower than Christopher Hogwood’s tempo
in the complete Decca set of Rinaldo where Gerald Finley,
a baritone, took the role of Argante. The result is that Purves
avoids the somewhat militant and hectoring quality that Finley,
albeit attractively, brought to the role. Recitatives and accompanied
passages give Purves full opportunity to display his rich grasp
of characterization. Peter Dawson was an altogether more avuncular
Polyphemus, whose O ruddier than the cherry could have
been sung at the bar, pint mug in hand. Altogether more menacing,
Purves is not a giant with whom to trifle. The piping recorder
accompanying him offers an ironic commentary on his libidinous
bluster.
The earlier Italian version of Acis was Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
and in the aria Fra l’ombre e gl’orrori we
hear a truly remarkable piece of singing, as Purves negotiates
a two-and-a-half octave descent, with cruel intervals, managing
to sustain body of tone throughout, not least at the very bottom.
Once again the recorder dallies up above. Yet for every aria
such as this, he presents one like Tears, such as tender
fathers shed from Deborah, a brief but concentrated
example of negotiated nobility, reserving of tone and conveyance
of stillness and sublimated emotion. Stoicism, in a word. As
Zoroastro in Orlando he suggests menace in Sorge infausta
una procella. He relishes verbal dexterity, and the sound
of his rolling consonants in Racks, gibbets, sword and fire
from Theodora is not easily forgotten, He shakes the
word ‘racks’ around his mouth like a dog savaging
a toy doll.
We should once again commend the accompanying players, who in
Mie piante correte provide bassoon and string textures
fully worthy of the sublime music; commend, too, Purves’
almost Sencan raptness, a true melancholy stillness, in Cara
pianta. The vitality and confidence of that old favouriteRevenge,
Timotheus cries should be acknowledged, along with its unusually
slow B section. And a gentle envoi is offered in Leave me,
loathsome light from Semele which put me in mind
of the more emotional performance given a long time ago on LP
by Forbes Robinson, who did a clever thing by insinuating a
da capo.
This outstandingly good disc offers a wide range of music, feeling,
texture and mood. Singer and accompanying group are perfectly
matched in a sympathetic church acoustic. Let’s hope Purves
can be induced to commit more of his Handelian repertoire to
disc without too much delay.
Jonathan Woolf
Track listing
Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto from Rinaldo HWV7a (1711) [4:50]
I rage, I melt, I burn! Accompagnato [1:21] - O ruddier than
the cherry from Acis and Galatea HWV49a (1718) [3:13]
Fra l’ombre e gl’orrori from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
HWV72 (1708) [6:59]
If I give thee honour due [0:12] - Mirth, admit me of thy crew
Air from L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato HWV55
(1740) [2:34]
Qual’insolita luce [1:09] - Caddi, è ver Aria from
La Resurrezione HWV47 (1708) [4:15]
Tears, such as tender fathers shed from Deborah HWV51 (1733)
[2:30]
To pow’r immortal my first thanks are due from Belshazzar
HWV61 (rev..1751) [3:55]
Impari ognun da Orlando [1:11] - Sorge infausta una procella
from Orlando HWV31 (1733) [4:35]
Racks, gibbets, sword and fire from Theodora HWV68 (1750) [3:56]
Volate più dei venti from Muzio Scevola HWV13 (1721)
[3:24]
Vieni, o cara from Agrippina HWV6 (1709) [1:45]
Nel mondo e nell’abisso from Riccardo Primo, Re d’Inghilterra
HWV23 (1727) [3:13]
Mie piante correte [2:50] - Cara pianta from Apollo e Dafne
HWV122 (1710) [7:27]
Revenge, Timotheus cries from Alexander’s Feast HWV75
(1736) [7:55]
Leave me, loathsome light from Semele HWV58 (1744) [3:40]
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Christopher Purves (bass) 