Here we have a further recording from Germany of Handel's tragic masterpiece of 1738. Like the Neumann recording, it was made from live performances, this time in a monastery, and clearly (if that's the word) in a large and reverberant room. Handel's oratorios were composed for a theatre acoustic, much sharper and drier than an ecclesiastical one, and a good deal is lost in terms of clarity and immediacy in such a recording as this. The overture and the other orchestral numbers sound indistinct and as if a band much larger than the one here (strings only 4.4.2.2.1) is being used; otherwise, it is mainly the choruses that suffer. The engineers do well here to strike a broadly satisfactory balance between orchestra and chorus -- the orchestra is audible even in the loudest music -- but the softening and blurring of the choral lines themselves and the general effect of the haze of resonance on the choir are, to my mind, a pity.
Otherwise, however, this version has a very great deal to be said for it, and had I to choose a single recording of Saul it might well be this one. Joachim Carlos Martini has a good command of the work and draws a capable performance from his choir, whose singing is spirited in the lively choruses and well controlled. Tempos are generally sensible, although, in the German manner, Martini takes the recitatives rather deliberately. Occasionally he does not quite catch the gravitas that the work, or at least the situation of the moment, demands: notably in the great 'Envy' chorus, which is a bit too jerky and jaunty, but also in the air for Saul soon after, and perhaps the Dead March, done (like most of the orchestral music) in somewhat detached style and consequently short of atmosphere. Some numbers (the Andante of the overture is one) are self-consciously phrased, making a rather stilted effect. Some of the viola line seems to have escaped at the beginning of 'Thy words, O King'. The organ playing of Rien Voskuilen in the Sinfonia (actually a miniature organ concerto) in Act 2 is particularly neat and happily phrased.
Barbara Schlick sings Michal's music with her usual lightness and musicality, and with the necessary agility too. Her Act 2 duet with David, 'Oh fairest of ten thousand fair', is lovely, one of the highlights of the performance. Her proud sister Merab is effectively characterized by Claron McFadden, who finds real grandeur of manner for her dismissal of the idea of marriage to the lowly David and in her air at the end of Act 1, 'Capricious man', but appropriately softens later: 'Author of peace' is done gently and with glittering detail. David Cordier is an impressive David, sung in an even, open countertenor with an outstandingly clear and ringing middle to upper register. His opening number, 'Oh King', is taken very slowly; the beautiful prayer 'Oh Lord whose mercies' is particularly telling. Knut Schoch provides a capable and musical if not specially exciting Jonathan, although he sings very expressively in the accompanied recitative near the end of Act 1. The music for the High Priest, usually cut (as it was by Handel himself), is included and some of it is very fine; it is only adequately sung here. Stephan MacLeod, although some of his English pronunciation could have been improved, makes a fine Saul, dark and brooding, and with some fire too (for example in 'A serpent, in my bosom warm'd'); his heaviness of spirit in the Witch of Endor scene (where McFadden doubles as the Witch, in very firm and concentrated tone) comes over impressively.
This, then, is a very able account of this magnificent piece, less idiomatic but more complete than Gardiner's, perhaps less assured though more evenly sung than Neumann's. It is certainly a version to be reckoned with.
Gramophone, April 1999
SS