Händel - Semele, in concert
Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Wednesday April 3 2019
Conductor: Harry Bicket. Semele: Brenda Rae. Ino/Juno: Elizabeth DeShong. Jupiter: Benjamin Hulett. Cadmus/Somnus: Soloman Howard. Athamas: Christopher Lowrey. Iris: Ailish Tynan. The English Concert. The Clarion Choir.
After this concert, I had a discussion online with a soprano who has twins about how pregnancy may affect a singer’s singing. There's no telling, it seems: it varies from singer to singer and sometimes actually helps. Brenda Rae was quite evidently pregnant, and I wondered whether her surprising and rather frustrating restraint as Semele was due to her condition or just to her holding back for stylistic reasons. She only really let rip in 'Myself I shall adore', which was loudly applauded, but sang the admittedly unreasonable 'No, no, I’ll take no less', which ought to crown a soprano’s evening, practically through gritted teeth and so to less applause.
Perhaps Harry Bicket was responsible (for the reserved singing, not the pregnancy). The English Concert and The Clarion Choir played and sang with impeccable taste and style and meticulous detail, but again with perhaps too much restraint for the size of the TCE (over 1,900 capacity, though not full for Semele): 'Oh terror!' was magnificent but not actually terrifying.
With so much holding back, however nicely done, the first act was, according to my neighbour, very nearly boring - though Soloman Howard had already excited some interest. “Soporific,” said the first report to hit the ODB Opéra forum. But things livened up considerably with the arrival of Elizabeth DeShong and the brilliantly comical Ailish Tynan, bearing, among other props, a fold-out map (ready to reply in detail to Juno's 'Say, where is Semele's Abode?'): this concert version, while not semi-staged, was acted. Had Brenda Rae not put in such a fine 'Myself I shall adore', DeShong, with her precision and projection, would have been the absolute star of the show (though having her sing Ino and Juno was potentially confusing for anyone new to the plot!).
Christopher Lowrey was an engaging Athamas, Benjamin Hulett the archetypal English tenor. An added bonus was a particularly fine Apollo, who stepped forward from the chorus. Brian Giebler was his name. Not a big voice, but a stylish one.
The imposing Soloman Howard, whom I’d already noted on YouTube but not seen and heard in person, was the discovery of the evening. With such presence, such a resonant bass voice, and more experience he will, I should think, go far.
Conductor: Harry Bicket. Semele: Brenda Rae. Ino/Juno: Elizabeth DeShong. Jupiter: Benjamin Hulett. Cadmus/Somnus: Soloman Howard. Athamas: Christopher Lowrey. Iris: Ailish Tynan. The English Concert. The Clarion Choir.
Perhaps Harry Bicket was responsible (for the reserved singing, not the pregnancy). The English Concert and The Clarion Choir played and sang with impeccable taste and style and meticulous detail, but again with perhaps too much restraint for the size of the TCE (over 1,900 capacity, though not full for Semele): 'Oh terror!' was magnificent but not actually terrifying.
 |
| Händel |
The imposing Soloman Howard, whom I’d already noted on YouTube but not seen and heard in person, was the discovery of the evening. With such presence, such a resonant bass voice, and more experience he will, I should think, go far.
Comments
Post a Comment