The Chandos Singers paid tribute to the Handel anniversary by performing this early oratorio. It’s a curious piece, based on one of the biblical episodes that you don’t usually hear about in church; not very much judging under the palm tree, but an awful lot of smiting, one of the more significant pieces of which being carried out by my character, Jael.<\/p>\n
Many of the choruses are adapted from earlier works such as Dixit Dominus<\/i> and the Coronation Anthems, sometimes in a rather disconcerting way so that they veer away from the way you thought you remembered that they went. And I think I now understand some of the point of recitative; it is a useful way of warming up before an aria if you haven’t sung for some minutes.<\/p>\n
So that’s Handel, Purcell and Mendelssohn honoured this year – I just need a chance to do some Haydn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chandos Singers paid tribute to the Handel anniversary by performing this early oratorio. It’s a curious piece, based on one of the biblical episodes that you don’t usually hear about in church; not very much judging under the palm … Continue reading