HANDEL: Samson (complete oratorio) – Soloists/ NDR Choir/ Gottingen Festspiel Orchestra/ Nicholas McGegan, conductor – Carus 83.425 (3 Multichannel SACDs), 167:12 ***** [Distr. by Naxos]:
For several months Handel basked in the glow of his successful 1740 oratorio adaptation of Milton’s L’Allegro and Il Penseroso. As the ever-present need for money pressured him to resume work, Handel was quick to agree to another adaptation of a Milton poem. In September 1741 – just days after completing his Messiah – Handel began work on a brand new oratorio. His choice for a libretto was Milton’s poem Samson Agonistes. The harried composer completed his new work in October 1742 but various delays postponed its premiere performance until February 1743. The response to Handel’s new musical setting of a poem by the great Milton was rapturous. Such was the oratorio’s popularity that repeat performances were frequently given (55 in London alone during Handel’s lifetime). Samson soon became one of Handel’s most successful non-operatic works.
There is a masterful sublimity in Samson’s music as Handel worked at the very peak of his considerable creative powers. He engages the ear with music of exquisite delicacy and taste. Even the massed voices of the choruses exhibit an effortless transparency of texture which creates scenes of breathtaking beauty and power. Despite the dramatic nature of the well-known biblical story of Samson, Handel’s music always appears to float above the fray. The work has a Mozartean clarity that runs counter to the earthy nature of the material. Samson manages to avoid slipping into either bathos or over-familiarity. It is a miracle of composition by a composer who had reached his full maturity.
Conductor Nicholas McGegan is well known for his historically-informed performances of Baroque era music. This recording responds to Handel’s sublime music with a performance of great beauty and delicacy. The soloists perform with emotional restraint and simple elegance but manage to produce an effect that is piercing in its gravitas and power. This is musical drama that remains with the listener long after the performance has ended. Instrumentalists and singers seem perfectly matched to the material making Handel’s often daunting score a real pleasure to listen to.
The sound of this SACD is transparent and softly reverberant. Voices and instruments are crystal clear and warm with a nice bloom that fills the recording space. There is not a trace of either harshness or brittleness that one can occasionally encounter in a church recording. The soundstage is wide and deep making the recording pleasantly immersive.
— Mike Birman
