HANDEL: Parnasso in Festa – Diana Moore/ Carolyn Sampson/Lucy Crowe/ Rebecca Outram/Ruth Clegg/Diana Moore/Peter Harvey/ The King’s Consort and Choir of The King’s Consort/Matthew Halls – Hyperion CDA67701/2 (2 discs), 131:51 ***** [Distr. by Harmonia mundi]:
Hard to believe that anything Handelian has been left unrecorded. But if something’s out there, leave it to the folks at Hyperion to find it and record it. It’s the premiere recording of the composer’s “Parnasso in Festa,” an apparently unique example in Handel’s career of a fully-fledged “celebratory serenata.”
This genre, which was rare in England, had developed in parallel with opera in Italy where it was popular for commemorating special occasions of international significance. And so “Parnasso in Festa” was a loosely operatic entertainment written for Princess Anne’s marriage to Prince William of Orange which took place on March 14, 1734, in the Queen’s Chapel (built by Inigo Jones), St. James’s Palace. Princess Anne, whom the composer called “the flower of princesses,” was obviously one of Handel’s favorite pupils.
Here’s the plot, which sounds like it thickens more than it does: Three of the Muses (Calliope, Clori and Euterpe), their leader Apollo, his son Orpheus, and Mars (the god of War) gather at the feast celebrating the nuptials of the mortal king Peleus (one of Jason’s argonauts) and the sea-nymph Thetis. The wedding feast was an auspicious occasion in Greek mythology: the uninvited goddess of Discord, Eris, threw out the golden apple that led to the context contest judged by the Trojan prince Paris. But here it works out much for the best
The mythological musicians Apollo and Orfeo may have been particularly appealing to Handel, since he never composed an opera about Orpheus and Euridice. In fact, his only depiction of the Orpheus in his entire output forms the core of the serenata’s middle part. For a composer who later excelled at representing St Cecilia, and who was described by contemporaries as “the Orpheus of our age,” the depiction of Orfeo is fascinating. Clori, Calliope and Apollo, each in turn, question Orfeo and implore him to look on the bright side. He responds with a deeply moving five-minute reflection on the love he has lost, which is then echoed by a sublimely beautiful choral passage. The section is rounded off with an exquisite duet between Apollo and Clio, after which the royal wedding (and Part Three of the serenata) is heralded with one of Handel’s wonderful hummable choruses.
Created two years before “Alexander’s Feast,” and five years before “A Song for St Cecilia’s Day,” the emotional centre of “Parnasso in Festa” may be devoted, as David Vickers writes, “to a study of the power of music.” For the most part, however, the sound and feel of the music is elegantly beautiful; occasionally, in a recitative here or an instrumental introduction to an aria there, it even hints at the emotional depths of the Mozart to come.
This gentle masterpiece is presented in a fine performance by an exceptional group of musicians, and graced by a stellar line-up of soloists led by Carolyn Sampson. This recording also marks the first recording by The King’s Consort under its new director Matthew Halls.
Recorded at St Jude-on-the-Hill, in London’s Hampstead Garden Suburb, the sound is that magically unique combination of exuberant, detailed and delicate which Hyperion seems to be to capture on a regular basis. Check out the Sinfonia opening Part Three for some truly amazing drum thwacks in which you can hear the texture not only of the mallets but the drumheads. And no matter how wide Hyperion’s dynamic range gets, it never seems to overload even the most sensitive systems. Not to mention David Vickers’s exhaustive program notes will prepare you for the musical adventures.
For music like this, it’s well worth getting married!
– Laurence Vittes
