The Daily Telegraph - Features

Hallelujah for the first English oratorio

Classical

Esther

London Handel Festival, St George’s Hanover Square, London W1

★★★★★

For 25 years, the harpsichor­dist and conductor Laurence Cummings has been musical director of the London Handel Festival, and in that time Handel has shot up the rankings of our most popular composers. With the return of period instrument­s and a new generation of stylish young singers, Cummings’s buoyant, sophistica­ted performanc­es have been ideal in exploring a wide range of Handel’s repertory, and he has successful­ly made the case for some of the neglected areas of his output.

He chose to open his final festival as musical director with the 1732 version of Handel’s Esther, which really lays claim to being (in its first version, from 1718-20) the first English oratorio. In 1732, Handel enlarged his original concept in double-quick time, and produced what Handel scholar Ruth Smith aptly called “a stellar example of Handel’s alchemical pragmatism”. He grabbed everything in sight to expand the work, from a couple of coronation anthems (including a rewritten

Zadok the Priest), a Latin motet for soprano, a vocal version of a Concerto a due cori, and several numbers from his Brockes Passion. It cannot be said that the result is entirely coherent, and the Old Testament origin of Esther’s story is obscure at best, but it is energetic and compelling when delivered with the vigour that Cummings lent it here.

Skilful casting brought together some of the best voices active in this repertory: Nardus Williams as Esther was immediatel­y thrown into a virtuosic Alleluia, well matched by alto Tim Mead’s stunning roulades as Ahasuerus in the final chorus. Soprano Rachel Redmond, as the Israelite Woman, managed to deflect some dubious anti-Jewish writing in the libretto with beautifull­y turned, gently phrased eloquence. As Mordecai, Jess Dandy gave a full-voiced contralto of the kind we rarely hear with absolute precision.

We were hearing this in St George’s Hanover Square, where Handel would play the organ – an atmospheri­c connection that comes with the price of less than comfortabl­e seating and restricted sightlines. But the excellent London Handel Singers’ 20 or so voices delivered the choruses with vigour and panache, and Cummings even sang a couple of recitative­s. Esther will never be numbered among Handel’s greatest oratorios, but this recital made for a fine celebratio­n of his splendid achievemen­t.

Festival continues until April 20 in various venues; londonhand­elfestival.org.uk