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Editions Les Arts Florissants
AF001
Code-barres / Barcode : 3760138170972 (ID368)
Review by: Brian Wilson
Download News - Jan. 2014
Yet another auspicious launch of an own-label, this time of a group who already have a distinguished catalogue of recording for Virgin and Erato, both now housed under the Warner Classics umbrella. The amply proportioned booklet, which puts even Hyperion somewhat in the shade, generously acknowledges those earlier recordings for other labels.
Though Belshazzar is by no means the best-known of Handel’s oratorios, we already had two distinguished recordings in the catalogue, on DG Archiv from John Eliot Gardiner and on Warner Erato from Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The former comes in a budget-price triple set for around £14 (4770372: download from 7digital.com for £11.99) and the latter in a 6-CD box with Jephtha for around £18 (2564696116: downloading is unlikely to save much). Kirk McElhearn liked the mid-price MDG recording – review. There’s also a Harmonia Mundi DVD/blu-ray recording.
Though it was a flop at the time, despite Handel’s attempts to rework it, there is some very fine music in Belshazzar – it’s just that events move very slowly and nearly three hours seems over-long for such a straightforward story: Belshazzar holds a drunken feast, desecrating the sacred vessels stolen from the temple at Jerusalem; a mysterious hand writes on the wall and only the prophet Daniel can interpret this as divine judgment; Cyrus and his army invade and the kingdom passes to the Medes and Persians. Cyrus grants the Jewish captives leave to return home. To this biblical story the librettist adds a sub-plot in which Belshazzar’s mother sides with Daniel in vainly trying to mitigate her son’s behaviour. William Walton was to do the whole thing much more succinctly in Belshazzar’s Feast.
Christie has chosen an all-Anglophone cast, which is clearly an advantage, but Harnoncourt had Felicity Palmer and Robert Tear, while Gardiner had Anthony Rolfe Johnson, James Bowman and Catherine Robbin.
If any recording could convince me, Christie’s, made with an accomplished group of soloists and the clear advantage of studio recording immediately after live performance, would be at least as likely to do so as either of those rivals. To single out one contribution is invidious, but Iestyn Davies, who already had a fine version of Destructive war, thy limits know from this oratorio on Hyperion CDA67924 – review – deserves special mention.
Nevertheless, my final feeling was that the arias and duets from Belshazzar which crop up on various fine recordings have the best of it. David Daniels on Virgin (now Warner Erato 5454972), Christopher Purves (Hyperion CDA67842 – review: Recording of the Month) and Sarah Connolly and Rosemary Joshua on Chandos CHAN0767 – review and June 2010 DL Roundup – are good places to start, along with the Iestyn Davies which I’ve already mentioned.
One clear advantage of the new set is its availability in 16- and 24-bit lossless sound. The 24/44.1 is offered for a limited period at the same price as the 16-bit and mp3 ($24.90); even after the price rises it should still be commensurate with the £25 or so for which you can find the CDs. You will, however, need a lot of paper if you wish to print out the booklet and it probably won’t match the special stock on which I understand the CD booklet comes. Sumptuous as the booklet is, it has clearly been proof-read by a non-Anglophone, permitting such misspellings as relevent.
You can compare the new recording with the Harnoncourt and other recordings on the KuK – abridged on 2 CDs: review – and Berlin Classics labels on Naxos Music Library.
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