Search - George Frederick Handel :: Handel: Israel in Egypt

A voice teacher and early music fan

George Peabody | Planet Earth | 12/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"GREAT RECORDING, BUT NOT MY FAVORITE!

John Eliot Gardiner is a conductor who understands Handel to the very core, and has recorded herein the shorter version parts 2 & 3, which Handel, himself, created.



The choir does a good job of portraying the highly emotional content of this oratorio, and Gardiner guides them skillfully through the numerous vocal effects demanded by the score.



The weakest element is Ashley Stafford's (countertenor) account of the frogs which he sings VERY insecurely ending with a hideously rash decoration. Yet Gardiner manages to get across in this otherwise-vapid air the sense of leaping fleas of pestelence and pustule. The tremendous flies and lice chorus overwhelms, as the elements of earth,fire,air, and water beset humanity.



In these vast and numerous choruses a criterion by which to guage the performance is whether or not the individual parts can be heard. They can!!!!Even the orchestral parts are clear in the loudest sections. This is GREAT music-making.



The performance of 'Zadok' and 'The King..' is equally accomplished. The choir continues to sing with its customary clarity and sharp diction.



A minor complaint from me involves Gardiner's constant variety of soloists; it's unnerving to hear one excellent countertenor (Chance) sing only one of the four solos; and then hear Stafford utterly destroy his one solo, etc. It just seems that Gardiner does this too much. And , for that reason, I much prefer Cleobury's King's College 1995 recording with Bostridge-Chance-Gritton and Varcoe, each taking all of the solos for their specific voice. But this is a good recording, anyway."