Review: JUDAS MACCABAEUS at Riverside Church

December always brings a spate of Messiah performances to the New York metropolitan area.  A Nutcracker here. An Amahl and the Night Visitors there. Or other Christmas-themed ballet, operas, or concerts.  While these are enduring and endearing classics, they are not the only masterworks that make interesting, seasonal entertainment.

Leon Botstein, Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra, has made it the orchestra’s mission to present lesser-known orchestral and choral works. Dr. Botstein, President of Bard College,  decided that this year’s holiday presentation would be Georg Friedrich Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus from 1746. While this great oratorio is decidedly not a neglected work, it is nonetheless not performed in the metro area with any regularity. So as Botstein says, “what better choice than a setting of the story that’s the basis of the Hanukah holiday, an oratorio by a Baroque composer, a Protestant German transplanted to London and in the employ of the English monarch, the head of the Anglican Church, performed in New York City’s magnificent Baptist place of worship, Riverside Church?” Makes perfect sense!

Dr. Botstein is a fine, sensitive conductor, thoroughly versed in the Baroque style. The American Symphony Orchestra is an accomplished, professional ensemble. Together they became one with the clear and expressive choristers from the Riverside Church and Bard Festival Chorale and presented a thrilling evening of music and storytelling.

The librettist, Rev.Thomas Morell, said that the plan of “Judas Maccabaeus was designed as a compliment to the Duke of Cumberland,” a war hero who put down Scottish troops at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. Handel composed the oratorio a few months later and premiered it in the Spring of 1747. This gave Handel the opportunity to showcase four soloists along with the chorus. A tenor who sang Judah (as performed by Jack Swanson),  a bass as Judah’s brother Simon (as performed by the full-throated William Guanbo Su), a mezzo-soprano as an “Israelitish Woman” (Brandie Sutton) and another soprano singing the roles of an “Israelitish Man and Priest” (Deborah Nansteel). Both women were marvelous Handelians.

All four soloists had complicated parts full of long, sixteenth note runs (as in “For unto us a child is born” in Messiah) and the short, convoluted roulades more associated with (much) later bel canto singing which they all sang accurately and with warmth. They all succeeded in keeping a period-authentic straight tone with little “operatic” vibrato while maintaining authoritative voices over the chorus and orchestra. Swanson sang with humor (where appropriate) and power in all his solos. His showpiece “No unhallowed desire” was an emotional highpoint in the evening. He filled the huge space with his bright tone and excellent diction. This was particularly evident  in his part 2 solo
“Sound an Alarm” which was a trio with the silvery sound of the trumpets and war-like tympani. It was a spine-tingling, electrifying moment I would love to have heard as an immediate encore!

 The most well-known piece in the oratorio came in Part 3. “See the Conquering Hero Comes!” Sung by the women of the chorus. it went by in a flash, and compared to what came before it seemed almost anti-climactic. However, there was a stir of recognition in the audience. The final chorus “Hallelujah, Amen” is also a familiar one to Handel fans.

The audience received the full chorus and orchestra finale with a roar of well-deserved applause. The outstanding instrumental soloists (oboe, trumpet, cello) all earned their kudos, as did the vocal soloists and ensembles. It was a perfect finish to Hanukkah as well!

The next opportunity to hear the American Symphony Orchestra will be at Carnegie Hall on January 25, 2024 when they perform Antonin Dvorak’s Requiem, and on March 22, 2024 when they perform Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder with 150 musicians at Carnegie Hall.

For more information and tickets, please see their website americansymphony.org

 

 

 

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