Classical review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Published on Sunday 30 November 2008 18:57

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA CITY HALLS, GLASGOW

RICHARD Egarr is fast becoming a pivotal figure in the world of Baroque performance. His handling of Handel's Alexander's Feast with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra last week was a powerful illustration of why that is. His slick, stylish command of the tight-knit choral and orchestral forces – directed from the harpsichord – brought to life a work that is far worthier than the rarity of its airings these days on the public stage.

The score, itself, is a wonderful cocktail of familiar Handelianisms and moments when the composer thinks out of his Baroque box to produce music of rare beauty and mind-blowing imagination.

The delicious aria Softly Sweet with its sensuous lyrical twists, the militaristic sheen of the judiciously-timed horn duo, the meteorological allusions that conjure up the peals of thunder – all from a composer who knew how to please and shock at the same time.

It was the fluidity of this performance – rather like the Dunedin Consort's Acis and Galatea a few weeks ago – that won it its spurs, Egarr egging it on with theatrical zeal and colouring its measures with sympathetic imagination. If it was breathless at times – the chorus line occasionally thinly spread – it was nonetheless captivating from start to finish.

Egarr had valiant support from the pure soprano voice of Lucy Crowe, the operatic tempestuousness of tenor Timothy Robinson and the sure-footed bass of Christopher Purves. They ably complemented the hi-octane SCO, which now and again fell over itself, but which never once let the spirit of the music sag – nor did it lose sight of Egarr's unyielding vision.

This work was, in Handel's mind, as much a celebration of the power of music as a depiction of its historical subject matter. This great performance struck precisely the right balance.