The King'S Consort, Robert King - Handel: An Ode for St Cecilia’s Day, HWV 76 etc. (2004)

Tracklist

01. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 1 Overture, Pt. 1. Larghetto, e staccato
02. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 1 Overture, Pt. 2. Allegro
03. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 1 Overture, Pt. 3. Minuet
04. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 2, Recit. From Harmony, from Heav'nly Harmony
05. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 3, Aria. When Nature Underneath a Heap
06. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 4, Chorus. From Harmony, from Heav'nly Harmony
07. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 5, Aria. What Passion Cannot Music Raise and Quell!
08. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 6, Aria & Chorus. The Trumpet's Loud Clangour
09. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 7, March
10. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 8, Aria. The Soft Complaining Flute
11. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 9, Aria. Sharp Violins Proclaim
12. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 10, Aria. But Oh! What Art Can Teach
13. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 11, Aria. Orpheus Could Lead the Savage Race
14. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 12, Accompagnato. But Bright Cecilia Rais'd the Wonder
15. Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV 76: No. 13, Solo and Chorus. As from the Pow'r of Sacred Lays
16. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 1, Recit. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo
17. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 2, Aria. La Virtute è un vero nume
18. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 3, Recit. Tu, armonica Cecilia
19. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 4, Aria. Splenda l'alba in oriente
20. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 5, Recit. Carco sempre di gloria
21. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 6a, Aria. Sei cara, sei bella
22. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 6b, Aria. Un puro ardor
23. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 6c, Aria. Sei cara
24. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 7, Recit. È ben degna di lode
25. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, HWV 89: No. 8, Duetto. Tra amplessi innocenti

Even if you think the big "Rule, Britannia!" mood is the way to go with Handel, give a chance to Robert King's version of the Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, recorded with the King's Consort and its choir on the Hyperion label. Handel in this much-loved work set a poem in praise of music by John Dryden; between opening and closing stanzas that implicate music in the creation and the dissolution of the universe, Dryden penned evocative little portraits of individual instruments ("Sharp violins proclaim/Their jealous pangs and desperation/Fury, frantic indignation/Depth of pains, and height of passion/For the fair disdainful dame."). In a Baroque musical world that associated solo instrumental display primarily with the concerto form, setting this text was a tall order -- and one Handel filled magnificently.
This reading separates itself sharply from those that give in to the irresistible forward momentum of Handel's music. King's instrumental sound is restrained, deliberate, and shaped into forms over time rather than delineating them crisply right out of the box. Early on in the performance, as for example in the long cello introduction to the "What passion cannot Music raise and quell!" section, you may find yourself wishing for a bit more oomph. But pay attention! King's approach brings out Dryden's texts in wonderful detail and highlights Handel's responses to lines like "Through all the compass of the notes it ran." And King sets the soloists front and center, which is right where Handel would have wanted them. They're a sharply contrasting pair that Handel himself would have loved; soprano Carolyn Sampson is a creamy-voiced soul who blends exquisitely into King's carefully sculpted instrumental textures, while tenor James Gilchrist blazes forth from his quiet surroundings in the stentorian trumpet aria. The choral textures build effectively to the final apocalyptic vision in which "Music shall untune the sky."
An added bonus here is the inclusion of a rarely recorded Italian-language Cecilian-themed cantata, Cecilia, volgi un sguardo, that Handel composed to fill out the evening for a performance of Alexander's Feast. If you want ring-from-the-rafters Handel, King has plenty of competition out there. But with this precise, long-breathed Ode for St. Cecilia's Day he has brought new life to a standard and offers plenty to interest even those enviable souls encountering this luscious ode to musical art for the very first time.

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