Earlier this week, when I wrote about the recent CD release of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 59 oratorio Joseph and his Brethren performed by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) & Chorale, I recalled that, when PBO performed this piece in December of 2017, Bruce Lamott, Director of the Philharmonia Chorale, advised the audience to enjoy the music without trying to follow the libretto text. Last night in Herbst Theatre PBO chose Handel’s HWV 53 oratorio Saul for the final performance in San Francisco of its 38th season, and things could not have been more different. Lamott was again on hand prior to the performance, along with Waverley Fund Music Director Nicholas McGegan, both in conversation with Harvard musicologist (and PBO bassoonist) Kate van Orden. This time Lamott talked up the dramatic qualities of the libretto by Charles Jennens (consisting entirely of his own words, rather than drawing upon Scripture) as providing the best way to appreciate how Handel’s music reflected the intensity of the drama.
The proof of that pudding was established almost as soon as the oratorio got under way. I write “almost” because Handel’s score for HWV 53 is very generous when it comes to offering strictly instrumental music. The Sinfonia (overture) to the entire oratorio is in four movements and includes extended concerto-like passages for both oboe and organ. The listener is then dropped into the opening scene celebrating victory over the Philistines enabled by the slaying of Goliath. This is when the listener discovers that the choral writing is as generous as the instrumental selections (and, of course, is just as engaging).
Given that the cast for the oratorio involves ten distinct roles, the reader may wonder how long it will take for all the action that Lamott predicted would take place. However, once the victory celebration has concluded, the libretto wastes no time diving into the intense dramatic action. The key element of the narrative, of course, involves the complicated relationship that Saul (bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch) has with David (countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen). By slaying Goliath, David established himself as Saul’s greatest asset in maintaining his reign; but, because the Israelites see David as the hero of the battle, Saul also sees him as a rival for the throne.
The opposition of Saul and David is then complemented by the contrasting roles of Saul’s two daughters, the class-conscious and haughty Merab (soprano Yulia Van Doren) and the more libertarian (and presumably more attractive) Michal (soprano Sherezade Panthaki). Saul’s initial plan is to have Merab wed David, assuring that monarchic rule will be kept “in the family.” Merab, however, will have nothing to do with a “commoner” from remote Bethlehem. Eventually, Saul arranges for David to marry Michal; but, by that time, his suspicions of David’s ambitions have grown considerably.
Finally, there is the relationship between David and Jonathan (tenor Aaron Sheehan). Jennens is at his finest in capturing Jonathan’s difficult position. As Saul’s suspicions grow, he commands Jonathan to kill David; and the critical moment in which Jonathan turns his loyalty to David, rather than his own father, stands as a high point in the expressiveness of Handel’s music.
Since none of the “action” of the libretto is staged, the dramatic essence of the oratorio resides primarily in the music. Nevertheless, several of the soloists brought a healthy share of expressive body language to their respective performances. The contrast between Merab and Michal owed as much to both sopranos’ skill at both physical bearing and facial expression as it did to the rhetorical elements of Handel’s score. Okulitch engaged similar skills in depicting Saul and in conveying the sense of an overall descent across the entire narrative that only concludes when both Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle.
The diversity of characters in this oratorio is complemented by what is probably the widest diversity in instrumentation that I have encountered in an Handel score (rather than one subjected to latter-day rearrangement). I am almost certain that this was the first time I found myself listening to trombones in Handel’s music; and there were three of them (Greg Ingles, Erik Schmalz, and Mark Ramsey)! Of course John Thiessen was there with his trumpet based on a 1746 design, joined by Fred Holmgren, playing a trumpet of his own crafting, also based on a design of a member of the Ehe family.
Opening measures of the “carillon symphony” (from the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe, from IMSLP, fair use)
Most interesting, however, was the first-act “Symphony pour les Carillons,” featuring a keyboard instrument for bells, rather than strings or organ pipes. This was the one part of the score that was not taken by a period instrument. Jory Vinikour, the organist for the evening, found that he could get the best approximation to a “period” sound from a contemporary keyboard glockenspiel made by Yamaha.
The overall result was just the right blend of an intense narrative, a spectacle of unexpected delights, and a collection of thoroughly satisfying musical numbers for both vocal and instrumental resources. McGegan was always there to keep that blend properly balanced. By the end of the evening, it was clear that the attentive listener had enjoyed a journey as profound as it was delightful.
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