Search - Handel :: Handel: Israel In Egypt

A transcendental Israel

Arnout Koeneman | the netherlands | 06/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I like this recording quite a lot.



This might come as a surprise, but I actually like the funeral part the best: "The lamentation of the Israelites"

Many people skip this part.



Parrott and the Taverner Choir & Orchestra are excellent.

I don't like Parrott that much in Monteverdi - his Bach I like with some reservations- but here his very 'English' way works much better and it isn't actually not that 'English', like Gardiner or McCreesh for instance who have that typical 'English' excitement in their recordings: loud singing and much more staccato.

Parrott is dull in comparison and that's good in my book.



(I don't mind excitement in Handel: Jacob's and Christie I like very much in Handel, but they're not that 'English')



The choir is amazingly good, extremely transparent.

The orchestra isn't that special, just adequate and tempi are sometimes too moderate, almost at the point of being slow.

The sopranos are excellent, I especially like Argenta's voice.



Overall I like these discs very much.

At times, thanks to Parrott, the music sounds very unearthy and that's special, because Handel's music in general is very earthy, isn't that sacred like Bach's.



Maybe you'll find in Gardiner's and Christopher's readings more excitement and maybe those recordings are more idiomatic, with faster tempi.

But Parrott's Israel in Egypt is special for its very Handel-unlike transcendental character."