Customer Reviews

Handel - Brockes Passion / Klietmann · Gati · Zádori · Farkas · de Mey · Bandi · Minter · Capella Savaria · McGegan

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George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Brockes-Passion. Performed by: Martin Klietmann (tenor, evangelist); István Gáti (baritone, Jesus); Mária Zádori (soprano, Daughter of Zion); Katalin Farkas, Éva Bártfai-Barta (sopranos); Éva Lax (contralto); Drew Minter, Péter Baján, Tamás Csányi (countertenors); Guy de Mey, János Bándi (tenors); Gunther Burzynski (baritone); Stadtsingechor Halle; Capella Savaria; dir. (from the harpsichord?) by Nicholas McGegan. Recorded in 1994 by Hungaroton on 3 CDs. Licensed re-release also available as part of the Handel Masterworks series from Brilliant Classics (99777-13/15). Total playing time: approx. 2 hrs 45 mins.

Handel's works are generally to Italian or English texts, and to find a German-language passion oratorio by him can be a surprise. In fact, he appears to have written it around 1716/1717 after spending an extended "vacation" in his German homeland. The libretto by the pious Hamburg poet Barthold Hinrich Brockes was very much "en vogue" at the time and was set to music by no less than four well-known composers: Keiser, Mattheson, Telemann and Handel himself. Typically for the Protestant German tradition of the time, it tells the story of the arrest, trial and death of Jesus Christ, but not strictly in the words of the Gospels; rather, the words of the Gospels are put into poetic form and complemented by pious comments allegedly coming from those involved in the story. In a sense, this was a musical "set piece", and although Handel obviously took a certain amount of trouble over the work, it is not to be expected that it should be particularly original. While listening to it, I heard parallels to other works by Handel, but also anticipations of Bach's passions - meaning not that Bach "copied" Handel, but rather that both were working within the framework of a common tradition. And of course, the libretto was not tailor-made for Handel's needs, so it is perhaps not surprising that some of the music sounds a little "forced". Nonetheless, there are any number of fine moments to be heard here, and those who love everything Handel wrote will enjoy themselves thoroughly.

The performance is good, with some highlights and some passages which are less brilliant. Martin Klietmann is a fine evangelist; he never reaches the heights of, say, Howard Crook in his role as the evangelist in Bach's passions (under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe), but his declamation is clear and his involvement plain without ever drifting into false emotionalism. Of the other singers, it is Drew Minter, and to a lesser extent Guy de Mey, who really stick out with clear and excellent enunciation and superbly controlled voices. The Hungarian singers involved in this production all have very nice-sounding voices, too, but in varying degrees they also all suffer from a more-or-less thick Hungarian accent, which not only makes following the text more difficult or, on occasion, impossible, but can also bring a smile to one's lips. (I should say that I have the Brilliant Classics edition which has no printed libretto; I speak German fluently and found it not too difficult to follow the action, but it was obvious that some of the soloists were having problems with the German text.) The Capella Savaria is, I believe, Hungary's oldest period-instrument orchestra and has often worked with Nicholas McGegan. Their playing is here inspired by his leadership, but it is, to my mind, still possible to hear that their instruments are not really up to the standard of equivalent Western orchestras (particularly in the strings). The harpsichord continuo, on the other hand, is exceptionally good. The Stadtsinge-Chor Halle is presumably a large amateur choir; its role in the oratorio is limited, but it seemed to be very well-disciplined.

The recorded sound is good without being special. I don't know whether this is legitimate, but I seemed to hear an improvement on the Brilliant Classics discs after transferring them carefully to hard disc and re-burning them on good-quality CD-R's.