Traditionally, December is the month in which concert programming takes the Christmas holiday into account; and George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 Messiah tends to head the list of “season-appropriate” selections. However, as Bruce Lamott, PBO’s Scholar-in-Residence and Chorale Director, observed in his pre-concert talk last night, Old Testament sources figure significantly (if not prodigiously) in the libretto texts for Handel’s oratorios. Even HWV 56 is based primarily on the writings of the Books of the Prophets concerned with the coming of the Messiah.
Lamott’s remarks last night took place in Herbst Theatre to introduce the first performance of this month’s concert by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) & Chorale. The program was devoted entirely to a performance of Handel’s HWV 63 oratorio Judas Maccabaeus. The King James Version of the Bible included two books of Maccabees. These were not parts of either the Old Testament or the New Testament but, instead, were relegated to a section labelled “Books called Apocrypha,” using a term for either unknown authorship or doubtful origin. 2 Maccabees provides the story of the miracle of oil for the temple lamp that serves as the basis for the celebration of Hanukkah (which will begin this year on the evening of December 22). On the other hand the libretto for HWV 63, prepared by Thomas Morell, is based on 1 Maccabees, an account of a “resistance movement” against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid King of Syria. The objective was for the Jews to reclaim that land that had been promised them in the Book of Exodus and to restore the Holy Temple, which had been desecrated by the Seleucid invaders.
As a result, HWV 63 is not about the miracle behind Hanukkah but, instead, establishes the context for that miracle. The Maccabees are the sons of Mattathias Maccabaeus, who incited rebellion again Antiochus but did not live to see the Jews prevail. The oratorio is named after his son Judas (sung by tenor Nicholas Phan), who took over the leadership of the rebellion. Morell’s text also provides music for Judas’ brother Simon (baritone William Berger), reinforcing an overall narrative in which passionate patriotism prevails.
However, what makes the libretto particularly interesting is that there are only two other significant characters. These are “anonymous” individuals described only as “Israelitish Woman” (soprano Robin Johannsen) and “Israelitish Man” (mezzo Sara Couden). One might say that they amount to a “Greek chorus,” providing the perspective of those Jewish individuals for whom the Maccabees pursued their rebellion. This is yet another gesture of patriotism, which may well have been appropriate because, as Lamott observed, it was quickly associated with the failure of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 to take over the English throne. That patriotic spirit remains in the present with the tradition of singing the HWV 63 chorus “See, the conqu’ring hero comes!” as part of the “Last Night of the Proms” celebrations every summer in the Royal Albert Hall.
Last night’s performance was long but vigorous. In was interesting to observe that instrumentation for the first of the oratorio’s three parts consisted almost entirely of strings. It was only when the text started turning to vigorous actions that trumpets, drums, and winds began to make their presence known. That approach to instrumentation underscored the general sense of how the narrative behind the libretto progressed.
From that patriotic perspective, however, the most interesting selections were those sung by Johannsen and particularly Couden. This emphasis on those influenced in preference to the influencers made for a novel approach to relating heroic accounts. Couden’s solo aria performances were particularly compelling, very much in keeping with the keen dramatic sensibilities she brought to her performance of Prince Ormondo in the Ars Minerva production of Domenico Freschi’s opera Ermelinda last month.
PBO’s “reward” for audience appreciation (photograph by Liz West, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)
Furthermore, the “show” did not end with the final round of applause. As they left Herbst, members of the audience were given foil-wrapped chocolate coins. These are the “Hanukkah gelt” (Hanukkah money) candies that traditionally are given to Jewish children as part of the Hanukkah celebration. I suppose this was PBO’s “seasonal” way of thanking the audience for its presence last night in a manner consistent with the holiday spirit behind the oratorio.
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