Customer Reviews

Handel - Saul / S. MacLeod · Cordier · Schoch · Schlick · McFadden · Beekman · G. Schwarz · Frankfurt BO · Martini

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Another near-hit: the Handel Saul done by Martini and the Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra. The soloists are generally quite good, especially Macleod's Saul; and Barbara Schlick warbles prettily as usual. David Cordier's David is rather watery, and more than usual David and Johnathan sound like they're about to bop down together to shop for window treatments.

The period-instruments orchestra is top-notch, and the recorded sound is vivid (and quite resonant) and lively (befitting a live recording). But the chorus -- the Junge Cantorei -- indeed sounds young and LARGE. They pack a punch in the loud bits but are quite blurry and sometimes not quite getting all the notes. And fatigue seems to set in in Act III for everyone involved (partly Handel's fault; after Saul is buried, attention flags).

Certainly worth the price (for the instrumental playing and soloists, certainly), but not the only Saul you'll ever need.

Saul is an epic oratorio, and contains much fine music. McFadden is a sublime soprano, and not recognised enough I believe. She sings with complete assurance, pinpoint accuracy, beautiful rich but clear tone, without the lack of expression some other pure-voiced sops suffer. It would be worth buying the disc for her alone. Schlick is also a fine sop, but very much second to McFadden - strangely enough, Schlick is very similar to Lynne Dawson who sings the same role (Michal) in John Eliot Gardiner's version. The other soloists are all pleasant enough, although I would place Alastair Miles above MacLeod for his more authoritative, polished performance of Saul, John-Mark Ainsley above Schoch and Derek Lee Ragin's incomparable voice above any other countertenor, so must vote for JEG's Saul. The choir sound rather large and as though they are wading through deep mud at times, but in some choruses (esp the initial and final) the effect is quite thrilling and awesomely huge and overpowering. Hard to judge from excerpts over the net! Well worth buying, but to go one better I would opt for the JEG version.

I have always loved Handel's music - all the popular favourites and some less well known works such as Acis and Galatea and Alexander's Feast. When I purchased this economy edition of Saul I had vague recollections of the dead march and little else. But there is a wealth of great music in this opera/oratorio. I especially like the duet and following chorus nos. 19 and 20 on disc 2 (you can sample it here for yourself, but there is a lot to like about the music that the sample doesn't reveal). It makes me wonder how many great works are 'lost' to us, waiting to be restored to publicity. Of course not every work can be equally popular and exposed, but I for one do not regret missing a couple of listenings to Messiah to squeeze in Saul.

Handel - Saul / S. MacLeod · Cordier · Schoch · Schlick · McFadden · Beekman · G. Schwarz · Frankfurt BO · Martini is a recoring under the direction of Joachim Carlos Martini who leads Barockorchester Frankfurt on this Naxos release from 1997. The booklet contains 28 pages. The booklet contains informative and well-written liner-notes that are truly a delight to read. Highly recommended. 5/5.

I can't share the enthusiasm expressed in this site for this effort. The best thing about it is the restoration of most of the High Priest's arias, for documentary purposes if nothing else. As to the performance, it doesn't hold a candle to the rival efforts of Gardiner (Philips), and especially for my money, to McCreesh (Archiv).

The period orchestra plays well, but makes the colorful score sound opaque and heavy. Mackerras 35 year old recording with the English Chamber Orchestra is a better account of the score despite the use of less colorful modern instruments. The large sounding Junge Kantorei makes a big sound in the choral numbers but sounds murky and diffuse. Contrast their sound to the similarly large Leeds Festival Chorus in the old Mackerras (Archiv) version to realize that transparency and large size aren't mutually exclusive. Add to this some very heavy weather with the Teutonic accents of the choristers. Even Woldike's Copenhagen forces in the old and heavily cut Vanguard effort (circa 1962) give a better account of themselves.

The soloists are OK. McFadden and McLeod strike me as the best vocalists in the lot. Schlick's singing prompts me to respect - she has a servicable tone and good vocal manners, but not much else. She certainly sings the English text with comfortably, something that can't always be said for her German speaking colleagues in this effort. Do native anglophones sound this uncomfortable when singing German?

Martini's conducting is servicable, but he fails to discover the nuances in this wonderful score in a manner comparable to the aforementioned Gardiner, Mackerras, McCreesh or Woldike. If you don't know this, one of Handel's great oratorios, this is an OK introduction. I'd still recommend spending a few more dollars for either Gardiner or McCreesh - both miles ahead in terms of soloists, orchestra, and chorus.