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The Connoisseur's Handel
BGS-5029, cover from initial stereo LP release

The astonishing "mad scene" from Orlando, bristling with vocal difficulties (as all later operatic "mad scenes" would) and sung here with matchless style by Alfred Deller, indicates how much we lose by not knowing the wonderful music that lies hidden in the neglected operas and oratorios of George Frederic Handel (1685-1759).

These works of course were composed under the pressure to provide a constant stream of theatre pieces, concerts and entertainments for a public that above all adored the virtuoso singer. Their poetry is often earthbound, and much of the drama today arouses skeptical smiles rather than the Aristotelian "pity and terror." There are in them hastily written musical passages. But the works contain also the happiest inspirations of one of the greatest of all composers, with unflagging genius as he moved from the sensuous melodic loveliness of his earlier years to the exalted serenity of his old age. The present program offers a sampling of these riches. Only two of the selections included are heard with some frequency on the concert stage, namely Lascia ch'io pianga from Rinaldo and Ombra mai fù from Serse, the last-named air being of course the melody known in countless transcriptions as "Handel's Largo."

An inexhaustible mine for opera libretti in Handel's time was found in the two great Italian Renaissance epic poems dealing with the age of Charlemagne, chivalry and the crusades: Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata and Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Handel's Rinaldo, produced in 1711 as his first opera for London, took its plot from Tasso's poem. Contributing to the striking success of the opera was the lovely aria, Lascia ch'io pianga, which Handel borrowed from one of his own earlier works. In musical form this opera was little more than a chain of solo arias. In his later operas, as well as the oratorios, Handel explored richly the expressive possibilities of the recitative and the ensemble, along with more imaginative tempo changes within an aria, as in Orlando, of 1732, which took its story from Ariosto. It tells of the futile, lovelorn pursuit by Orlando (the tragic Roland of French medieval history and legend) of the beautiful Angelica, his madness born of frustration, and his magical cure. Masterful is Handel's exploitation of vocal floridity in the second act aria, Cielo! se tu il consenti, expressing Orlando's rage and anguish at discovering that Angelica's heart lies elsewhere. Then his sanity departs under the strain, as disclosed in the remarkable, nine minute long mad scene, Ah! stigie larve, which closes the act. Percy Young describes this as one of "the most penetrating and awe-inspiring examples of Handel's capacity for uncovering the raw nerve-centres of mental agony. … Mental affliction crosses recitative and aria, ebbs to exhaustion through the healing influence of the 'vaghe pupille' gavotte, and finally reposes Orlando in troubled sleep." Originally Orlando's part was sung by a male alto, to which Alfred Deller's countertenor voice is the closest modern approximation.

The last but one of Handel's operas was a comedy, Serse (or Xerxes) composed in 1737-8. Its very first number as the curtain rises is the recitative and cavatina, Ombra mai fù, with the pastoral suggestion of the text carried out perfectly in the gentle loveliness of the music. Also pastoral in feeling in the Siciliana. Let me wander, from the cantata, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato of 1740. The text used Milton's famous poems with alterations and additions by Charles Jennens that posterity has failed to appreciate as poetry. The music however is glorious.

The oratorios Theodora (1749-50) and Jephta (1751) are the masterpieces of Handel's old age, the first named being his favorite among all his oratorios. The drama tells of the persecution of Christians in Antioch during the rule of the Roman Emperor Dioclesian. Theodora, a noble convert to Christianity, is seized and condemned as punishment to be defiled by the Roman guards. Her lover, the Roman captain Didimus, expresses his determination to rescue her in the aria, Kind heaven. In the Act II aria, Wide spread his name, the Roman governor Valens demands homage to the emperor. Didimus makes his way into the prison where Theodora is captive, but his attempts at rescue and the pleas of each for the other are unavailing. They die in martyrdom. Sweet rose and lily is his air when he comes upon Theodora in prison, and the love duet, To thee thou glorious son follows.

Jephta recounts the Biblical story of the Hebrew general who rashly vows, should he be victorious in battle, to sacrifice what he first sees on his return. To his horror, his daughter meets him. In the ensemble, O spare your daughter, we hear Jeptha, his wife, Sorge, his brother Zebul, and Hamor, the lover of his daughter. In the oratorio an angel appears to halt the sacrifice. Expressing the joy that follows are Zebul's air, Laud her, all ye virgin train, and Hamor's 'Tis Heaven's all ruling power.

The Coronation Anthems do not celebrate the individuality of King George II (with whom, as Prince of Wales, Handel had had some difficulties), but rather the coronation of a king who sits on his throne by agreement of the people; a concept in which parliamentary England was foremost among European nations of the time. The choral writing foreshadows the splendor of Messiah, Belshazzar, Israel in Egypt, Saul and Samson, and there are striking instrumental effects.

Zadok the Priest starts with an instrumental prelude of the subtlest and touching beauty. This leads to a choral declamation on the first words of the texts. A melody of a great pomp and grandeur enters with "And all the people rejoiced," and there is a brilliant climax, with the words "Alleluia" and "God Save the King" hurled repeatedly against each other. The music here looks forward to the famous "Hallelujah" chords of Messiah.

The King Shall Rejoice in on the scale of a big choral cantata. There is a bright instrumental, then choral, opening on the first words. A melody of great loveliness, with a leaping string accompaniment, appears on "Exceeding glad." There is a pow­erful declamatory outburst on "Glory and great worship," followed by a fugal movement of truly Handelian breadth and grandeur on "Thou hast prevented him," leading to the final "Alleluia."

Let Thy Hand be Strengthened uses an instrumental body of strings, oboes and organ, without the trumpets and tympa­ni of the two preceding anthems. It is a symmetrical three-movement work. There is a lively opening for orchestra, then a con­trapuntal chorus on the first lines. "Let justice and judgment" becomes a poignant choral slow movement, and the "Alleluia" provides a sparkling finale.

– S. W. Bennett

Originally released as Vanguard/The Bach Guild BG-601 (tracks 1-12) and BG-661

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