Classical Notes by William Charlton-Perkins
Disclaimer: The original version of this column first appeared as ‘The Magnificent Mr Handel’ In The Mercury Newspaper 25 years ago. Taking a leaf out Mr Handel’s book (the great man was an inveterate recycler of his own - and other men’s - material, centuries before ‘recycling’ was the buzz word it is today) I’ve put this piece to work again, with a news prefix to open proceedings.
Headline News
Handel’s Messiah receives a triumphant Easter Sunday return to The Playhouse on April 9 at 15h00. The grandly-staged production, a landmark event on the Playhouse calendar, will be accompanied by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, with Jeremy Silver on the podium. Onstage, the creative team, led by director Ralph Lawson, features a quartet of leading South African soloists, Ondelwa Sisanda Martins (soprano), Jacobi Benkenstein (mezzo), Luther Sakhumzi Martins (tenor), and Bongani Kubheka (bass baritone) – with the Playhouse Chorale performing under the choral direction of Juan Burgers.
Messiah’s score teams splendid choruses and arias. These have become part of the fabric of world culture since it was written in 1741. Aside from its celebrated Hallelujah Chorus, iconic items include: the famous tenor scene and aria, Comfort Ye, My People… Ev’ry Valley; the contralto’s, O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion, and heart-rending He Was Despised; the soprano’s, I know that my Redeemer Liveth and Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Jerusalem; the stirring bass arias, Why Do the Nations and The Trumpet Shall Sound; and such exhilarating choruses as All We Like Sheep, For Unto Us a Child is Born, and the climactic Amen choral fugue that brings the work to a resounding close.
Of the 29 oratorios Handel wrote in the latter part of his career, Messiah is the only one that celebrates the New Testament. It is set to texts from the King James Bible. Following its first performance in Dublin in 1742, the oratorio passed swiftly into the mainstream of world music. It has long been regarded as the great masterpiece of music composed in England.
Tickets for The Playhouse Company’s Messiah are R150. Seating is unreserved. Early booking through Webtickets is recommended.
*Patrons are advised that due to maintenance currently underway in the theatre complex, and the replacement of seats in The Opera auditorium, temporary seating will be provided. Apologies are tended for inconvenience caused.
Trivia & reflections
The annals of classical music, perhaps more than of any other branch of the performing arts are dotted with figureheads one might dub Eccentrics on a Grand Scale. For many of the world’s older generation of concertgoers, a recognizable example of this phenomenon is the British conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham. Anthologies of his biting wit, spawned at the expense of hapless orchestral players over a span of half a century, have been celebrated in more than one compilation of outrageous Beecham anecdotes.
In the spotlight in Durban soon is an even more famous Eccentric whose social and professional foibles have reigned supreme in the lore of classical music for close on four centuries.
This, of course, is George Frederick Handel, the German-born Baroque composer whose magnum opus, Messiah, springs to life for the umpteenth time on Easter Sunday, as detailed above. Born in Halle, the young Handel took cultural circles in Italy by storm during the first decade of the 18th Century, before he triumphantly adopted London as his city of residence in 1710, becoming a subject of the British crown in 1727.
During his lifetime, Handel’s musical genius, his bent for popular entertainment (witness his iconic River Thames showpieces, The Royal Fireworks and The Water Music); his entrepreneurial skills; and his forceful personality - made him a legendary presence in English society, which accorded him the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey in 1759.
In dealing with the tantrums of opera stars Handel employed an uncompromising approach. A famous example relates to the diminutive prima donna Francesca Cuzzoni, who refused to sing an aria he composed for her debut - until the composer, a giant of a man, threatened to suspend her upside down by her ankles, and drop her from the upstairs window of their rehearsal room. The diva swiftly submitted to his will, and, as the composer’s muse, went on to inspire several great roles, not least his Cleopatra.
Handel was equally adept at curtailing emotional ‘spill over’ from his tenors. A Scottish singer, a Mr Gordon, objected to the composer’s flamboyant style of accompanying one of his arias. He threatened to jump into the harpsichord if Handel persisted. Handel famously replied: “Let me know when you will do that, and I will advertise it: for I am sure more people will come to see you jump, than to hear you sing.”
Portraits of the composer in later life suggest a hedonistic preference for the Good Life. Presented with two bottles of fine vintage wine, the composer laid up these treasures for his own exclusive consumption. Shortly afterwards, while entertaining dinner guests, he excused himself repeatedly from the table, murmuring “I heff ein tort” before slipping out of the room, leaving his guests to marvel at the maestro’s supposed compositional inspirations behind the scenes. The story goes his habitual German accent grew markedly thicker as the evening progressed…
Over the past 50 years, posterity has seen a great revival of Handel’s music, not least his operas, while his most famous choral work remains Messiah. Handel’s legacy was treasured by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The latter who so revered his predecessor that he declared in 1824. "Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived. I would bare my head and kneel at his grave".
"Handel had a rare gift of being able to tell is like it is", wrote music scholar, Michael Steinberg. “His music resonates with so much honesty that we can’t help but trust the sound almost immediately and welcome it as an old friend.”
Which explains the abiding appeal of his immortal Messiah. – William Charlton-Perkins
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