United Kingdom Handel, Israel in Egypt, HWV54 (1739): Singers and instrumentalists of Solomon’s Knot. Wigmore Corridor, London, 22.12.2025. (CSa)
Singers:
Zoë Brookshaw (soprano)
Rebecca Lee (soprano)
Kate Symonds-Pleasure (alto)
William Shelton (alto)
Thomas Herford (tenor)
David de Winter (tenor)
Jonathan Sells (bass, inventive director)
Alex Ashworth (bass)
Solomon’s Knot – Wigmore Corridor’s Baroque Ensemble in Residence – describes itself as ‘a global, versatile collective of unconducted instrumentalists and singers.’ Not like most musical teams which function a standard ‘top-down’ construction by which a single inventive director determines programming and id, inspirational concepts can come from any member. Whoever urged what proved to be a joyously genuine efficiency of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt at London’s Wigmore Corridor deserves credit score for a refreshingly unseasonal and strikingly topical expertise.
Unseasonal as a result of in Israel in Egypt Handel and his religious and theologically pushed librettist Charles Jennens, recount, for essentially the most half in vivid choruses, the Outdated Testomony story of the Passover which commemorates the liberation of the youngsters of Israel by Moses from slavery beneath Pharoah. It coincides with Easter, which in flip attracts symbolically on many features of the Jewish Competition. Strikingly topical, not as a result of Handel meant a contemporary political message, however as a result of problems with oppression, collective struggling, statehood and the appropriate to self-determination that are central to this biblical story, nonetheless resonate at present within the tragic battle between Israelis and Palestinians.
Breaking with the mighty ‘Huddersfield/Handel’ custom of large-scale, thickly textured performances by big orchestras and huge choruses, Solomon’s Knot fielded a paired down choir of 8 singer/soloists and 17 musicians performing intuitively from reminiscence on interval strings, historic woods and brass, kettle drums, organ and harpsichord. The orchestral soundworld is clear, intimate and expressive, and Handel would nearly definitely have recognised it as his personal. By stripping away the heavy musical varnish of centuries, this progressive ensemble revealed the effective grain and sensible colors of Handel’s image portray and elevated the narrative right into a compelling drama.
There may be a lot to be mentioned for casting soloists from the refrain itself. The outcome just isn’t merely cohesion however a uncommon uniformity of excellence, with particular person voices flowering naturally from the collective sound. By dint of crisp articulation, finely calibrated stability and supple dynamic shading, Solomon’s Knot wove a seamless musical tapestry by which soloists, choir, and instrumental writing have been inseparable, and the place excellence was not simply concentrated within the few however evenly distributed throughout the entire.
Premiered in 1739 and initially written in three components, Israel in Egypt was later revised to type the two-part model we heard. Regardless of diminished orchestral forces, the opening Prelude unfolded majestically, ushering in Half Two: The Exodus. It started with a compellingly sung introduction to the story from first tenor Thomas Herford: ‘Now there arose a brand new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph’ and chronicled the sighs and cries of the Israelites. Subsequent, second tenor David de Winter, in effective voice, spelt out the character of God’s retaliation in opposition to the Egyptian taskmasters. ‘He turned their waters into blood’ …and ‘despatched all method of flies, lice …and locusts’. Alto William Shelton’s vocally agile ‘Their land introduced forth frogs’ was adopted by a clutch of deeply unsettling and masterfully depicted chorus-led plagues which included ‘all method of flies and lice’, ‘hailstones for rain’, a ‘thick darkness over the land’, and in the end the smiting ‘of the first-born of Egypt’. Undeterred, Pharoah’s military vainly pursued the fleeing Israelites to the shores of the ‘rebuked and dried up’ Pink Sea, solely to be ‘overwhelmed’ when the parting waters flooded again. A well-chosen second for the 20-minute interval.
Half Three: Moses’ Track which occupied the second half of the live performance, opened with the stunning refrain ‘I’ll sing unto the Lord’, recycled by Handel from one in all his earlier Chandos anthems, after which got here a sweetly harmonious duet ‘The Lord is my power’ between bell-bright sopranos Zoe Brookshaw and Rebecca Lea. Basses Jonathan Sells and Alex Ashworth excelled in a rugged however skilfully balanced ‘The Lord is a person of battle’ whereas David de Winter continued the story as the youngsters of Israel reached dry land. Extra too from alto William Shelton in a sublimely lovely account of ‘Thou shalt carry them in’ and from Rebecca Lea whose splendidly completed account of ‘Sing ye to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously’ introduced one in all Handel’s best oratorios and a gloriously triumphant efficiency to a becoming shut.
Chris Sallon
