A voice teacher and early music fan
George Peabody | Planet Earth | 08/06/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"'SOLOMON' IS PROBABLY THE MOST MAGNIFICENT AND THE MOST LAVISH OF ALL THE HANDEL ORATORIOS'. In this work he demanded a grander, more sumptuous orchestra than for any other oratorio, and it contains a high proportion of choral music written in the most imposing ceremonial style. We have to remember that Handel's primary aim was to entertain, not to preach.
This oratoio is one of Handel's towering masterpieces, written at the height of his powers after a long experimentation with not only Italian style opera, but a move towards all sorts of oratorios as well. 'Solomon' is partly religious, and partly secular, being somewhat graphic in its celebrations of sexual love. It embraces the man at the pinnacle of his powers and popularity, also emphasizing his wisdom, but hinting that his sexual proclivities may be his undoing. Yet in the end, with the arrival of the Queen of Sheba,it is pure choral spectacle. The Queen speaking of how much she has learned and will never forget after her stay with the great ruler.
The choruses are the pillars of the whole piece but their function is not primarily dramatic; except in the Queen of Sheba's masque in Act III. They are not actual participants in the drama, but they do set the mood for the development of the drama by means of the soloists and the orchestra. The chorus is divided into two four-part choirs and nearly always it is the strings and the trumpets and timpani which accompany the first choir, while the horns and woodwinds accompany the second choir.
It was the summer of 1748 Handel composed his oratorio 'Solomon' which depicts a wise and God-fearing ruler, with Solomon's court presenting the image of an ideal society. The central theme of the libretto originates from the Old Testament the book of Kings (lst kings 1-11) and Chronicles (2nd Chronicles 1-9).This oratorio is not distinguished with a dramatic plot, but rather juxtaposed pictures and scenes. With two choirs and seven eight-voice choir parts Handel makes use of all of the existing composition possibilities of that time.
One of the high points in the Oratorio is the scenario involving Solomon and the Two Harlots, who are claiming to be the Mother of the same baby. After hearing each woman's story, Solomon orders his guard to cut the babies in half, so that each Mother may have a share. In his wisdom, which the Bible describes in numerous ways, his strategy thus reveals that the real Mother is the First Harlot for she immediately speaks out in a distraught manner and tells him to give the baby to the other woman; whereas Solomon has determined the real Mother in this manner. Handel's music has never sounded as good as in this classic performance in Act II, Scene 2, featuring Carolyn Watkinson as Solomon, Joan Rodgers as the First Harlot and Della Jones (I love her voice!) as the Second Harlot. They all sing with exact precision and poignancy expressing beautifully the high drama of the scene.
This is a first-rate well-done production as one might expect when John Eliot Gardiner is at the helm. His Monteverdi singers are absolutely marvelous in this work: sonorous tone quality, good balance between the voice parts, clear and precise diction and good emotional investment. Gardiner's tempos are upbeat and even the slow selections have a buoyancy and a moving forward that many choirs, professional and otherwise often lack.
The soloists sang with great skill and the individual characterizaions are quite impressive, although as is true with many of Gardiner's masterpieces, the choir 'steals much of the show'. There has been some criticism of Gardiner's attitude that there is a lot of 'deadwood' in this work, and thus he has freely cut those pieces that seem less alive to him. Several of these being some important arias for Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. I can live with that, and though I would rather that he had kept them all, I will not enjoy this performance any less because of it.
The one thing that really bothered me throughout is the fact that a femele (Carolyn Watkinson-soprano) sang the role of Solomon. Not that she wasn't splendid vocally; in fact she was excellent. BUT there are 5 treble voices in this opera and being able to tell the difference between the charcters was somewhat challenging (and they were all good!) It was almost a relief to hear Zadok's (Anthony R.Johnson) voice who outdoes (in this role) most of his colleagues. Stephen Varcoe as 'A Levite' projects his character convncingly and strongly, as is usual for him. Nancy Argenta as Solomon's Queen was properly feminine and subdued and suitably awestricken in her role, and all with her lovely and tuneful voice. But it was Barbara Hendricks, as the Queen of Sheba, who gave one of her greatest performances ever, indeed one for the ages!
This impels me to mention the Maulbronn 'Solomon' under the direction of Jurgen Budday with Michael Chance as Solomon. But the Monteverdi Choir is difficult to beat! So I'll continue to enjoy both of them.
This is a remastering of the 1984 recording. The accompanying booklet includes pertinent information and the complete text is in German, French and English."
An almost complete first-class recording
Filippo Secondo | 12/09/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Reviewing a PG Rosette recording in detail after more than two decades would be superfluous. This being my first SOLOMON, I confess that I didn't find much of the score entirely memorable at the beginning, but those gems revealed themselves on repeated hearings; however, my all-time favourite Handel oratorio is still THEODORA. Though I can't find fault with its performative and sonic qualities, this classic recording has to lose a star on account of Gardiner's fatal decision to eliminate five arias: in the accompanying booklet, JEG defends sanctioning the cuts, arguing (unconvincingly for me) that they were composed for specific singers (aren't many of those singer requests masterpieces?), and that they hold up the action (if this were the case, the arias could have been recorded as an appendix, but honestly how many Handel arias - notably those lengthy ones - do not freeze the drama, which develops mostly during the recitatives?). Those who (like me) strive for completeness should look elsewhere, notably if they want only one SOLOMON, to which (in all fairness) this version should be an excellent supplement. Its current super-bargain price (at least for the time being) is unbeatable, not to mention a handsome packaging (two articles and the libretto, both in three languages), a truly inspired orchestra (English Baroque Soloists), chorus (Monteverdi Choir), and cast (C. Watkinson, N. Argenta, B. Hendricks, J. Rogers, D. Jones, A. Rolfe-Johnson, and S. Varcoe). So, no need to hesitate if the cuts don't bother you: once those discs start spinning, you'd want to re-hear them over and over again (I heard mine four times on the day the set arrived!)."
Brisk, competent and rather charmless
Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 07/31/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I made comparison between this, John Eliot Gardiner's Rosette-winning 1984 recording and Beecham's made in the mid 50's. In so many points Beecham seems to me to be superior, despite what might seem to us to be his almost absurdly anachronistic and cavalier treatment of this oratorio. Before anyone complains that side-by-side comparison of Beecham and Gardiner is like comparing apples with oranges, I would point out that Gardiner is equally arbitrary in omitting five arias which he felt slowed the action. As the "plot" of "Solomon" is in any case virtually non-existent, it being essentially a static, celebratory masque, I do not see that Gardiner can claim the moral, musicological high ground as he has simply exercised his judgement as did Beecham, each according to his own era and lights. As is so often the case with Gardiner, many of his tempi are jaunty and inflexible; there is nothing remotely sensuous about his account of the sublime duet between Solomon and his queen, "Welcome as the dawn of day"; it just jogs along about as sexily as a pensioner in a shell-suit. I defy anyone to compare it favourably with the way Beecham has the two voices and melody entwine around each other. Of course, Beecham heretically rearranged Solomon's part for a baritone and I certainly think that Carolyn Watkinson's smoky alto - more like a counter-tenor in timbre than any other female voice I know - matches better in this music with the soprano as Handel intended, but Beecham's Elsie Morison, with her flickering vibrato and richer tone, has an intrinsically more vibrant, sensuous voice than Nancy Argenta's rather small, pale sound and John Cameron sings elegantly. Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir is certainly not inspired to reach the emotional heights achieved by the Beecham Choral Society; it sounds so polite and pusillanimous alongside Beecham's chorus. Just listen to the way Beecham's tenors sing out, responding to the conductor's request for commitment. Both sets feature fine solo voices; Gardiner, in addition to the noble and stately Carolyn Watkinson has the mellifluous tenor of the late lamented Anthony Rolfe Johnson, but Alexander Young for Beecham is neat and characterful and I often feel that Gardiner's brisk, metronomic approach undermines his singers' expressivity. Many have praised Barbara Hendricks' Queen of Sheba; for me, as much as I like her she has the wrong vocal personality: too vampish and not regal but she is undoubtedly alluring.
Beecham's decision to omit the whole "whose baby?" episode could rule it out for many, but he retained several of the choruses which would otherwise have been lost, repositioning them perfectly effectively in his two Act version, but omitting the only real event in the plot removes one of the few possibilities of any dramatic tension and inevitably refocuses our attention on the purely musical virtues of the celebratory and erotic passages, and here Gardiner scores by presenting an engaging account of the famous judgement scene.
I realise that adumbrating my disenchantment here with the widely praised, multiply decorated Gardiner set is tantamount to my pinning a "Kick me" sign to my backside - but that's how I hear it. I hear no affection for this great work in Gardiner's treatment of it; just brisk efficiency. To me, the famous "Entry of the Queen of Sheba" sounds simply hectic, not imposing. If you love this grandest of Handel's oratorios, you might like to own both sets under discussion here as they are so different - but I wish Gardiner's direction were more sympathetic and involved."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1