Whelan Begins PBO Season with Handel Ode

Peter Whelan with PBO musicians

Some readers may recall that Peter Whelan began his tenure as Music Director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) this past July with a full-length performance of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 25 opera Tolomeo, re d'Egitto (Ptolemy, King of Egypt). Last night he returned to Herbst Theatre for the first “official” 2026–27 subscription season. Once again, the music was devoted entirely to Handel.

The entire program was structured around his HWV 75, Alexander’s Feast. This was an extended composition for chorus and three solo vocalists (soprano, mezzo, and tenor) structured in three parts. The libretto was provided by Newburgh Hamilton, who adapted the text of John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music, which had been written to celebrate Saint Cecilia's Day. The duration of the performance of this musical ode was a little more than 90 minutes.

The three parts of the ode were separated by two instrumental selections, also by Handel. The first of these was the HWV 313 concerto grosso in B-flat major, the second in the Opus 3 collection. The final part of HWV 75 was preceded by two movements from HWV 331, the Water Music suite in F major. My guess is that those two movements provided the most familiar listening experience for most of the members of the audience!

Whelan conducted from a harpsichord, facing a second harpsichord with Corey Jamason providing continuo, alternating with organ. As usual, the Philharmonia Chorale was prepared by Valérie Sainte-Agathe. The vocal soloists were Sherezade Panthaki (soprano), Rachael Wilson (mezzo), and James Way (tenor). I must confess that I have never warmed up to Dryden’s poetry, but I still made it a point to follow faithfully the text provided in the program book! This was sufficient for me to appreciate the expressiveness of the vocalists without worrying too much about semantic content!

Some readers may recall that Nicholas McGegan conducted a performance of this ode in April of 2012. My account of that performance (for examiner.com) was somewhat more enthusiastic. This may have been due to it being a “first contact” experience. This time around, while the account of the music was a solid one, the performance felt more dutiful than enthusiastic.