Handel's Grand Oratorio,
James Bagwell to conduct
By: Michael Miller - May 10, 2007
Israel in Egypt with its rich choral and orchestral sonorities and its grand gestures has always been a favorite of mine, and since the baroque revival in nineteenth century it has come second only to Messiah in popularity, an ideal vehicle for the huge choruses so much favored by the Victorians. In fact the very first musical recording was made in 1888 at the Crystal Palace of a chorus of 4,000 singing a passage of Israel in Egypt. Mr. Bagwell is not going to those lengths by any means, but the promised compliment of over eighty choral singers is large enough by contemporary standards.
Handel wrote Israel in Egypt for performance in London in April 1739. In it he turned away from the tendency to construct the oratorio around operatic numbers for the soloists and made the choruses the protagonists, the Egyptians and the Hebrews. This emphasis on the chorus, which has made such a powerful impression on audiences from the nineteenth century to the present day, failed to appeal to the early London audiences, and none of Handel's attempts to revive it in different versions found success. Its first performance was in three acts, the first being a grand "Lamentation of the Israelites for the Death of Joseph," adapted from his anthem for the Funeral of Queen Caroline in 1737. Modern performances usually omit this first act, as powerful as it is, and Saturday's performance will apparently be of the two-act version.
In any case, this is an event not to be missed.
Also, in Williamstown, Friday, May 11, the Williams Symphonic Winds will perform music by Leonard Bernstein, Steve Reich, Louis Andrieesen, Judd Greenstein and Ben Wood at 8 pm in Chapin Hall.
At the same time, The Boston Symphony Chamber Players will be performing at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. As usual the management of the Colonial is doing its best to keep the program a secret.
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mjm11/index.html
e-mail: heliagoras@gmail.com