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Editorial Reviews

Is this performance of Handel's oratorio "Judas Maccabaeus" as spirited, as lively, and as enthusiastic as the English critics say? Yes, it certainly is. Is it entirely persuasive? No, not really. While Nicholas McGegan is an able conductor with a robust sense of rhythm and a feeling for the big gesture, and the singers are more expressive and more often in tune than many of their contemporaries in the early music movement, this 1993 recording of Handel's heroic oratorio is hardly commensurate with the majesty and magnificence of the music or the depth of the drama. Here, the alarms are dull, the wars are distant, the drama is dim, and the characterization is rudimentary. There is much to enjoy in Guy de Mey's supple tenor, David Thomas' stentorian bass, and even Brian Asawa's odd but effective countertenor, but the U.C. Berkeley Chamber Chorus' intonation is strictly ad hoc and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's ensemble is totally pro forma. Even Harmonia Mundi's sound undercuts the work's glory and wonder by placing the performers at one end of a long, empty room and putting the microphone all the way at the other. Stick with the big-hearted Rafael Kubelik Orfeo recording or the marvelous Mackerras Archiv recording or particularly the mighty and majestic Robert King Hyperion recording. This one, while by no means unacceptable, is a fourth choice. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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