Handel - Samson / R. Alexander ? Venuti ? Kowalski ? Rolfe Johnson ? A. Miles ? Scharinger ? Harnoncourt
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Music CD Cover
Edition: Music CDCD Release Date: 1994-02-08
Music Label: Teldec
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Symphony - Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt
- Menuet - Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt
- Act I, Scene 1: Awake the trumpet's lofty sound! - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act I, Scene 1: Ye men of Gaza, hither bring - Angela Maria Blasi
- Act I, Scene 1: Awake the trumpet's Lofty sound - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act I, Scene 1: Torments, alas! are not confined - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
- Act I, Scene 2: O mirror of our fickle state - Jochen Kowalski
- Act I, Scene 2: Total eclipse! no sun, no moon, all dark - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
- Act I, Scene 2: Since light so necessary is to life - Jochen Kowalski
- Act I, Scene 2: O first created beam! - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act I, Scene 3: Oh miserable change! is this the man - Anton Scharinger
- Act I, Scene 3: The good we wish for, often prove our banes - Anton Scharinger
- Act I, Scene 3: Thy glorious deeds inspir'd my tongue - Anton Scharinger
- Act I, Scene 3: My genial spirits droop, my hopes are flat - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
- Act I, Scene 3: Then long Eternity shall greet your bliss - Jochen Kowalski
- Act I, Scene 3: Then round about the starry throne - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act II, Scene 1: Trust yet in God! Thy father's timely care - Anton Scharinger
- Act II, Scene 1: Return, oh God of hosts! - Jochen Kowalski
- Act II, Scene 1: To dust his glory they would tread - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner/Jochen Kowalski
- Act II, Scene 2: With plaintive notes and am'rous moan - Angela Maria Blasi
- Act II, Scene 2: Your charms to ruin led the way - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
- Act II, Scene 2: My (Her) faith and truth, oh Samson, prove - Roberta Alexander/Maria Venuti
- Act II, Scene 2: Her faith and truth, oh Samson, prove - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act II, Scene 2: To fleeting pleasures make your court - Roberta Alexander
- Act II, Scene 2: Her faith and truth, oh Samson, prove - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act II, Scene 2: N'er think of that! - Anthony Rolfe Johnson/Roberta Alexander
- Act II, Scene 2: Traitor to love! I'll sue no more - Anthony Rolfe Johnson/Roberta Alexander
- Act II, Scene 3: To man God's universal law - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act II, Scene 4: Honour and arms scorn such a foe - Alastair Miles
- Act II, Scene 4: Go, baffled coward, go/Presume not on thy God - Anthony Rolfe Johnson/Alastair Miles
- Act II, Scene 4: Hear,Jacob's God, Jehovah, hear! - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act II, Scene 4: To song and dance we give the day - Christoph Pregardien
- Act II, Scene 4: To song and dace we give the day - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act II, Scene 4: Fix in his everlasting seat - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 1: More trouble is behind: for Harapha - Jochen Kowalski
- Act III, Scene 1: Presuming slave, to move thier wrath - Alastair Miles
- Act III, Scene 1: With thunder arm'd, geat God, arise! - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 1: Jehova's Glory known! - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
- Act III, Scene 1: Thus when the sun from's wat'ry bed - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
- Act III, Scene 1: With might endued above the suns of men - Jochen Kowalski
- Act III, Scene 1: The Holy One of Israel be thy guide - Jochen Kowalski
- Act III, Scene 1: To fame immortal go - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: Great Dagon has subdued our foe - Christoph Pregardien
- Act III, Scene 2: Great Dagon has subdued our foe - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: How willing my paternal love - Anton Scharinger
- Act III, Scene 2: A Sym of horror and confusion - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: Hear us, our God, oh hear our cry - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: Ye sons of Israel, now lament - Jochen Kowalski
- Act III, Scene 2: Weep, Israel, weep a louder strain - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: A Dead March - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: Glorious hero, may thy grave - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
- Act III, Scene 2: Let the bright seraphim in burning row - Maria Venuti
- Act III, Scene 2: Let Their celestial concerts all unite - Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner
Free Music Notes for Handel - Samson / R. Alexander ? Venuti ? Kowalski ? Rolfe Johnson ? A. Miles ? Scharinger ? Harnoncourt
Free Music Review: Not Quite the *Samson* We've Been Looking For
Hit: 4 Stars
*Samson* bids fair to being Handel's most intensely dramatic oratorio. Samson's confrontations with Dalila and Harapha, the great Act II finale in which the Jews and Philistines enter into what amounts to a Baroque "Battle of the Bands," and the Act III recitative interrupted by a "Symhony of Horror and Confusion" represent some of the most remarkably vivid scene-painting in all of music.
Yet this revolutionary work (which inspired Haydn's *Creation*) awaits a recorded performance truly worthy of its astonishing invention. Harnoncourt's version, taken from a live performance with an international cast, can't be accused of being bland, staid or anything less than dramatically effective. As always, Harnoncourt is predictable in his unpredictability--a characteristic well suited to this kaleidoscopic work. Whether it be Samson's anguished meditation on his predicament ("Torments, Alas!"; "Total Eclipse!"), the Philistines' riotous orgy, or the Israelites' thunderous plea for liberation ("With thunder arm'd), Harnoncourt manages to convey Handel's sharply contrasting moods and extravagant musico-dramatic gestures.
What Harnoncourt fails fully to realize are the euphonious, indeed sensual aspects of Handel's music--and that holds not only for Dalilah's seduction scene, but also for some of Micah's prayerful arias and several of the more evocative choruses (e.g., "O first-created Beam"). True to form, Harnoncourt is a "mannerist" interpreter of Handel--and none the worse for that: "Baroque" means "bizarre" after all, and mannerism was part of the package from the time of Monteverdi. Yet there is a certain restraint, a classicism, and a lyricism in Handel which Harnoncourt doesn't fully appreciate.
The cast, too, is a mixed blessing. Alexander sings beautifully, if with a certain detachment, as Dalilah. Venuti as the Israelite Woman and Blasi as the Philistine Woman/Attendant also make positive contributions, despite their not-so-perfect English diction. Venuti gets to sing the one chestnut from the oratorio--"Let the bright Seraphim" (made famous by Joan Sutherland)--and her spectacular vocalism almost rivals Dame Joan. Almost. On the other hand, Rolfe-Johnson was having a bad day (or evening) when this recording was taken down; he strains to sound heroic, but ends up sounding. . .well, just strained. Over the long haul--and it is a long haul because Micah has quite a lot of music to sing--Jochen Kowalski proves to be a trial to the ear. The countertenor voice is not intrinsically unpleasant, but as employed here it lacks focus, agility, and suffers occasional lapses of intonation. Oh, for the days of Helen Watts! The other soloists are pretty good, though hardly exceptional. As usual, the Arnold Sch?nberg choir acquits itself splendidly--they are one of the most positive assets to this performance.
So, in the end, I cannot endorse this recording unequivocally. It has many virtues, but the weaknesses (particularly in the lyrical music and in the title role) do not make this a fully worthy successor to the (dare I say?) "classic" Karl Richter version (once available as a DG import), despite Richter's now-dated views on late Baroque performance practice. Richter had the incomparable Alexander Young as Samson, a superb Dalilah, and a choir which (despite a trace of German accent) proves riveting in every one of their varied exploits. One listen to Richter's rendition of the chorus, "Hear, Jacob's God!" will convince you how much more there is to Handel's score than . . . mannerism.
Handel - Samson / R. Alexander ? Venuti ? Kowalski ? Rolfe Johnson ? A. Miles ? Scharinger ? Harnoncourt Poster
Nikolaus Harnoncourt's Handel oratorios have had mixed success. The best of them is probably Belshazzar, but this isn't bad either. The problem is that the performance is cut (which is pointless for home listening, however desirable in live performance), and it faces brutal competition from two other superb versions--Raymond Leppard's on Erato, and Harry Christophers's on Collins. Under the circumstances, this set is a clear third choice. --David HurwitzClassical Music CDs
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