Outil de traduction (Très approximatif)
Translator tool (Very approximate)
Reviewer:
David Vickers
Handel composed
very little music on texts in his native German tongue. The most notable
examples are settings of poetry by Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680-1747), a
Hamburg town councillor who had known Handel since they were both students at
the University of Halle in 1702. Nevertheless, it was after Handel had settled
permanently in London that he set Brockes’s Passion oratorio Der für die
Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus (c1716) and nine devout
poems from the same author’s Irdisches Vergnügen in Gott, bestehend in
Physicalisch- und Moralischen Gedichten (second edition, 1724).
Wolfgang Katschner unusually programmes the so-called Nine German Arias
alongside rearrangements of selections from the Brockes-Passion. The
Lautten Compagney’s specialism in plucked continuo instruments and penchant for
copious artistic licence results in a colourful assortment of numerous continuo
instruments (including two lutes and anachronistic harp). Ina Siedlaczek’s
slightly pinched, girlish timbre lacks compassionate warmth (‘Süsse Stille’ is
tranquil enough but does not convey serene consolation), although she makes up
for it with admirably restrained embellishments and affectionate communication
of the poetry. I enjoyed her airy shaping of melodic contours in ‘Meine Seele
hört im Sehen’ but was less enamoured by the whimsical alternation between oboe
and violin for the solo obbligato part, and the tinkering capriciously with
continuo instrumentation during the B section; the solo obbligato part in ‘Das
zitternde Glänzen der spielenden Wellen’ is recomposed for both oboe and flute,
including passages featuring both together that contain plenty of notes that
Handel certainly did not write. The most persuasive moment is when Siedlaczek
and violinist Daniel Deuter are left to weave their sweetly persuasive spell
without undue interventionism (‘Die ihr aus dunklen Grüften’), but overall these
superficially attractive performances lack aesthetic coherence.
Florilegium more sensibly
intersperse the Nine German Arias between a couple of trio sonatas and an
obscure D minor chamber ‘concerto’; the latter survives in the library of Count
Schönborn in Wiesentheid but its attribution to Handel is surely spurious. The
continuo duo of cellist Jennifer Morsches and harpsichordist Terence Charlston
(on a 1766 Kirchman instrument that belonged to Christopher Hogwood) play with
beguiling refinement, and flautist Ashley Solomon and violinist Bojan Čičić
play with judicious melodiousness and delicacy (especially in a breathtaking
performance of the Largo in Op 2 No 1). Florilegium’s expert chamber-playing
also pervades the arias, but the effectiveness of these is diminished by Gillian
Keith’s quick vibrato and self-conscious ornamentation. Solomon’s flute‑playing
is quietly rapturous in its illustration of nature imagery in ‘Meine Seele hört
im Sehen’ (Morsches’s idea to use pizzicato for the bass line works beautifully
in tandem with Charlston’s lightly tripping harpsichord realisation), whereas
Čičić’s supple violin has rapier-like finesse in ‘Das zitternde Glänzen’.
Nevertheless, the incongruity of Florilegium’s musical intelligence with Keith’s
quivery tension yields disappointing results.
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