Search - George Frederick Handel, Thomas Sanderling, Reinhart Vogel :: Handel: Alexander's Feast

The full gamut of human emotion

E. A. Lovitt | Gladwin, MI USA | 11/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wasn't able to find a complete recording of "Alexander's Feast" in its original language of English, so I purchased this German version. I have to admit that Dryden's poem sounds as good or better in German as it does in English. My choir director would switch us over to singing it in German in a minute, if he thought our audience would put up with hearing Dryden's Pindaric ode 'auf Deutsch.' Don't be put off by the choice of language--Handel would probably have preferred it this way.The liner notes accompanying this set of two CDs pay short shrift to the soloists, listing only their names. Soprano Barbara Hoene sings with a delightful shimmer of sound, reminding me of a young Kathleen Battle. There's not much warmth in her lyric soprano, but it's beautiful in the way that music from a glass armonica is beautiful.Tenor Hans-Jügen Wachsmuth and Bass Hermann Christian Polster supply a warmer sound, although both men tend to ha-ha their way through Handel's long melismas.The Leipzig Radio Symphony chorus performs with a bright, disciplined sound, except for a bit of premature hissing in "The many rend the skies (Ein lauter Jubelruf)." The sopranos provide an especially clear, light touch in the choruses "The princes applaud with a furious joy" and "The list'ning crowd." Handel completed the first part of "Alexander's Feast" on January 5, 1736 and the whole work was finished in twelve days. Dryden's poem is considered the finest of all Cecilian odes, on account of its vigorous epigrammatic verse, and Handel seized every opportunity provided by the text to compose vivid musical imagery. Modern audiences might be a bit out of touch with some of the metaphors taken from Greek mythology and history, but who could fail to thrill at the raucous, warlike brass and timpani of "Break his bands of sleep asunder" or the famous bass aria, "Revenge, revenge, Timotheus cries." There is plenty of pathos too, as bassoons and violas bring somber color to the air and chorus which tell of the fate of Darius: "on the bare earth expos'd he lies, /With not a friend to close his eyes."Mozart might have been thinking of "Alexander's Feast" when he said that "when [Handel] chooses he can strike like a thunderbolt."

NOTE: I couldn't resist checking up on Darius in the "Encyclopedia Britannica." It was Darius III who fought the famous battle with Alexander the Great that is commemorated in Handel's musical ode. According to the encyclopedia, this Persian king didn't die in battle as mentioned in Dryden's poem, but ran away and was later murdered by one of his allies."