Naxos has hit on a
profitable sideline in their exploration
of that entertaining genre, the Posthumous
Handel Oratorio Franchise. Like many
a late author, the estates and publishers
respond to the unavoidable lacuna in
their midst - and to the still pressing
demand of the public - with pasticcio
works in which a composite work is constructed
through the use of excerpts from other
works or indeed other composers’ works.
I’ve already reviewed Nabal,
again largely the ‘stitching’ work of
John Christopher Smith and here we have
Gideon, another of his ingenious
constructions.
After Handel’s death
Smith collaborated with the composer’s
old librettist Thomas Morell and hit
on Gideon; Smith provided the
text with arias, ensembles and choruses
– and, as before, he used his own works
as well. The source music is in the
main from Dixit Dominus, La
Resurrezione, Silete venti,
Aminta e Fillide, the Nine
German Arias and Laudate
pueri Dominum – there are other
sources as well but these are the principal
ones. Smith mined his own music as well
to an appreciable degree; I haven’t
done the pounds, shillings and pence
but it must be shared about fifty-fifty
between the two composers, with Smith
employing numbers in particular from
his own The Feast of Darius.
Given that Smith chose
with acumen some less well-known choruses
and arias the venture can be accounted
a success. In this recording, given
in concert apparently in Kloster Eberbach
in Rheingau (though I didn’t hear any
audience noise; they must have been
commendably quiet) we do have some disadvantages.
The singers are an attractive sextet
but sopranos Barbara Hannigan and Nicola
Wemyss stand out. Counter-tenor David
Cordier starts a little unsteadily but
improves and Stephan MacLeod has a rather
light but agile bass. As Gideon, Knut
Schoch is attractive if also a little
lightweight; Linda Perillo sings rather
unevenly throughout. The chorus is let
down by the acoustic which turns mushy
in the bigger numbers and inclines to
spread elsewhere, but the orchestral
touches are nice, with colourful variety
from organ and harpsichord and orchestral
soloists.
Some highlights and
points to note; Cormier starts nervously
and the downward shifts exaggerate unsteadiness
in his voice but by the time of his
standout aria May kind Angels
he’s on good form. Hannigan and Wemyss
start as they mean to go on in an excellent
and fluent duet with chorus Lord,
we seek thy blessing and Linda Perillo
posts notice of her rather edgier, more
metallic soprano in her recitative Westward
from reverend Jordan’s silver stream.
Hannigan copes well with the difficulties
of Thou light of Israel – she
does particularly well by the exposed
top notes. I enjoyed the lute-like sonorities
of the accompanying string group behind
the two soprano recitative Thou
bowing mild as well as the increasingly
alto-ish tonal qualities of David Cordier.
The Part II choruses aren’t very well
blended and the sopranos in particular
are distant in the balance but this
is a handicap of the setting of the
recording throughout.
I’m not sure what audience
there will be for yet another of these
pasticcio oratorios but at this price
there aren’t many serious reservations
to be made about the spirit of the interpretation,
even if there are some problematic feature
along the way.
Jonathan Woolf
Early
Music
Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra/Joachim Carlos
Martini 
