The current feast on disc for Handelians continues with this exhilarating performance of one of the greatest music dramas in the English (or perhaps any) language; an opera of the mind, in which Handel, freed of opera seria restrictions, could set Jennens's vivid and imaginative libretto as the text dictated. Saul is the first of the oratorios where the story is actually carried forward by the arias, not merely in the recitatives, and those arias are often short and incisive rather than the long showpieces heard in this composer's operas. Gardiner here realizes the tautness of the concept and its psychological insights. The recording is another thoroughbred from the same stable that gave us the Gramophone Award-winning account of Jephtha (Philips (CD) 422 351-2PH3, 6/89), and like that, it derives from live performances at the Gottingen Handel Festival. In this case, the work had already been given in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and I drew as much pleasure from that evening as I do now from this issue on disc.
Gardiner here emphasizes the originality and grave beauty of the larger choruses, in particular the varied, chromatic intensity of ''O fatal consequence of rage'' which crowns Act 2, and the solemn, sad ''Mourn Israel'' in Act 3 after Saul's and Jonathan's death (preceded by an appropriately grave account of the Dead March). The celebratory music, at the opening of the work and in its concluding chorus, ''Gird on thy sword'', where the Monteverdi Choir sings with its customary virtuosity, is properly luminous and inspiriting, as is the orchestral playing, especially in the opening Symphony (severely cut in Harnoncourt's recording for Teldec/Warner Classics). You may find a typical Gardiner emphasis on rhythmic bite, as in the insistent rhythm of ''Envy! Eldest born of Hell'', at the start of Act 2, a trifle eccentric, but he avoids the inappropriate jauntiness of Harnoncourt in this bold number, reminiscent of a Greek Chorus. Gardiner's slower tempo articulates the depiction of Saul's envy. He and his English Baroque Soloists are also adept in the often delicate instrumentation of the arias, notably in the appealing strings and subtle flutes that introduce ''Fell rage and black despair'' in Act 1. The immediacy of Gardiner's approach is seconded by the forward, natural, unreverberant recording, so much more suitable than the church acoustics favoured by some companies. The audience noises and applause are minimal drawbacks.
Saul is depicted in brief arias perfectly attuned to his varying, unstable moods. They are here delivered in exemplary fashion by Alastair Miles, not yet 30 when this recording was made. He is exemplary in every respect, firm of tone, keen with words, fluent in divisions. Without the exaggerated emphasis and occasional hectoring indulged in by Fischer-Dieskau (Harnoncourt), he manages to project every facet of the character. He is a bass worthy of the characterful music Handel wrote for his type of voice.
Saul's envy is poured out on the gentle, youthful David. His delicate arias are sweetly but, for my taste, too fussily sung by Derek Lee Ragin, but that ineffably beautiful air ''O Lord whose mercies numberless'' is given with appropriate serenity. His beloved Michal, daughter of Saul, is Lynne Dawson, radiant and fresh in voice and style—any worried soul would be calmed by her account of ''Fell rage''. She caps a lovely performance throughout, including heroic, decisive singing in ''No, no let the guilty tremble'', with her account of ''In sweetest harmony'', which has the simplicity and major key of many of Handel's most intense utterances. Michal's wayward sister, Merab, is equally well taken by Donna Brown, who is honeyed and plaintive in ''Author of Peace'' in Act 2 (followed by the raw energy of the trumpets in the Symphony). As Saul's upright son Jonathan, John Mark Ainsley is properly buoyant in ''Birth and fortune I despise'' and pleads sweetly with the tortured Saul in ''Sin not, O King''. In the other tenor role, that of the High Priest, Neil Mackie, used too seldom by the major companies, sings mellifluously in ''Nature began'' and the somewhat formal ''O let it not in Gath be heard'', his tone poised and pleasing.
Perhaps the work's most arresting section is the famous scene at Endor that begins Act 3. Here Saul's accompanied recitative ''Wretch that I am'', sung with suitably tortured accents by Miles, is followed by the conjuring up of the ghost of Samuel, a marvellous piece of tone painting. Here, Samuel's sombre sayings are pointedly projected by Richard Savage. A couple of numbers are unfortunately cut in this recording but the excisions are far less grievous than in the Harnoncourt set. Mackerras's 1973 Archiv Produktion recording is given complete, using modern instruments, but awaits transfer to CD. With Harnoncourt not really a viable competitor, that leaves the field to Gardiner who fills it with this stirring, sensitive, positively executed reading.'