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Musica Vocale packed the J.C. Nichols Auditorium with a standing-room only crowd on Sunday for a performance of Handel’s Saul that echoed many recent performances in the metro area. The three-hour-long dramatic oratorio calls for multiple soloists, choir, and orchestra. Thankfully, it also has an intriguing plot that follows the biblical story of Saul and his jealousy over that young up-start, David.

Arnold Epley’s group performed another retelling of the David story last year with Arthur Honegger’s King David, and the Friends of Chamber Music recently hosted Boston Early Music Festival’s production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea. Attending those two performance greatly enhanced my enjoyment of Saul because of the similar story and similar structure, respectively—although, admittedly, da capo aria after da capo aria does become tiresome and predicable.

The soloists were equally matched and wonderful. Douglas Williams (Saul), who audiences may remember from Acis and Galatea, was even stronger in this role. A shining moment occurred in numbers 66 and 67, just before the end of Act II, which required Williams to go from raging against perceived insolence to sweetly charming in the space of a few notes. Saul’s daughters, Michal and Merab, were portrayed by Sherezade Panthaki and Estelí Gomez. Both were perfectly cast. Panthaki’s stage presence and voice had listeners relishing every embellishment and line. Gomez had the flashier of the two roles, playing the spiteful daughter. As such, she was called upon for the rapid scales and flourishes and other coloratura Baroque techniques, which her nimble voice handled ably. Though a high soprano, her Air “Capricious man, in humour lost” called for extensive use of her surprisingly rich lower register. Both embued these demanding parts with artistry that belied their young years. Jay Carter (David) was in strong voice throughout, and the love duet between him and Panthaki was the oratorio’s highlight. Andrew Childs’s Jonathan had the least amount of stage time, but his Air “Sin not, O King” was his best of the afternoon.

The chorus bookended the acts with commentary on the proceedings. They truly shined in the fifth and final scene of the third act. “Mourn, Israel” was beautiful in its simplicity, especially on the successive entries of voices on the final five “mourns.” “Gird on thy sword” showed all the early marks of the Messiah’s “Hallelujah.”

The orchestra had its moments throughout the afternoon, both sublime and not so. The trombone and continuo keyboard playing was routinely fine, but intonation issues plagued the rest of the sections. Epley also seemed more comfortable conducting the vocalists than the orchestra. Tempos were not immediately locked in causing many a rocky start and transistion and most unfortunately, called for one of the numbers to be restarted.  Violinist Beth Titterington saved the day on “Capricious man, in humour lost” when principal second violinist Monty Carter’s E-string broke as she quickly passed off her violin to him so that he could finish his complicated accompaniment.  As the oratorio progressed energy seemed to lag throughout, at over three hours it is understandable but still undesirable.  

REVIEW:
Musica Vocale
with Kansas City Baroque Consortium and members of St. Louis Baroque
Handel's Saul
Sunday, June 5, 2011
J.C. Nichols Auditorium
National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial
For more information visit http://www.musicavocale.org

Top photo: Arnold Epley

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com