Charpentier’s
Te Deum and his Christmas
Messe de Minuit,
based on popular French carols, have done well on record, but,
inexplicably and undeservedly, his music has never achieved the
same popularity as that of his near-contemporaries Lully, Rameau
and Couperin.
Thanks to the advocacy of Erato, Naxos and Harmonia Mundi, his
other vocal and choral music has also had a fair outing, but his
dramatic music has fared less well. A 3-CD Erato recording of
Médée survives (4509 96558 2), as does a budget-price Harmonia
Mundi recording of the wonderful small-scale opera
Actéon
(HMA195 1095), both performed by Les Arts Florissants directed
by William Christie. Their fine recording of
Les Arts Florissants,
however – the work which gave the group its name – seems to have
disappeared without trace; as I write, one online supplier is
even asking £107 for what was until recently a budget-price recording.
Two recordings of the prologue-plus-five-act tragédie en musique,
or tragédie biblique,
David et Jonathas have come and gone,
directed by Michael Corboz (Erato, 1982) and William Christie
(Harmonia Mundi, 1988). That they, like
Les Arts Florissants,
are missed is shown by the fact that copies of the mid-price reissue
of the Erato and of the budget-price reissue of the Harmonia Mundi
are currently being offered online for prices in the £70 price
range.
It is much to be hoped that the present recording, which makes
a very satisfactory replacement, does not follow them into the
deletion limbo. Perhaps the eye-catching CD cover, with the title
of the opera boldly displayed in a large font,
DAVID + JONATHAN,
will help it to sell. It certainly deserves to succeed: within
a short two-hour span Charpentier’s librettist, Father François
de Paule Bretonneau has condensed the lengthy account in I Samuel
of the conflict between David and Saul, the music is unfailingly
enjoyable and the performance and recording do both the composer
and the librettist justice. The modern listener is spared the
Latin tragedy
Saul, whose five acts were interspersed with
the musical drama at the first performance. Mercifully, most of
that Latin text is lost, but I hardly imagine that modern productions
would be tempted to employ it.
The Prologue opens with Saul’s visit to the Witch of Endor, here
named
la Pythonisse to link her in the minds of the classically-educated
audience with the Pythoness of Delphi, who interpreted the oracle
of Apollo. The librettist makes Saul clearly aware of the enormity
of what he is doing in breaking the biblical injunction against
necromancy and Dean Robinson’s performance, as well as being well
sung, leaves us in no doubt of the turmoil in his mind.
In the original production the roles of David and the Witch were
sung by an haut-contre, a high tenor/alto voice. On the Erato
recording William Christie employed Dominique Visse, a counter-tenor,
which is not quite the same thing. Here tenor Anders Dahlin takes
the role of David and tenor Paul McMahon that of the Witch – again,
not quite the same thing. McMahon has a pleasant, light tenor
voice, approximating pretty well to an haut-contre. Charpentier
makes Saul and the Witch sing the same words
il est l’unique
espoir qui reste aux malheureux as it were rhythmically at
odds with each other, as if to remind us of Saul’s extreme discomfort
at what he is doing in breaking his own laws – in the Bible, it’s
the Witch who is most apprehensive – and Robinson and McMahon
bring out the effect to splendid effect.
David Parkin as the shade of Samuel is also excellent – just the
right blend of the power of the prophet-who-was and the feeble
ghost. The words which Charpentier’s librettist gives him are
a shortened version of I Samuel 28 15-19, omitting one of the
reasons why Yahweh is so displeased – Saul had disobeyed the divine
order to slaughter all the Amalekites, men, women and children,
a reason hard to reconcile with the Christian concept of a merciful
God, though Saul had been motivated by greed rather than compassion.
The contribution of the Orchestra of the Antipodes – the Southern
Hemisphere’s capable period-instrument answer to the likes of
Les Arts Florissants – and Antony Walker’s direction make no mean
contribution to the success of the Prologue, but the power of
Charpentier’s music, too, contributes to that success. Purcell’s
almost contemporary wonderful 9-minute miniature drama
Saul
and the Witch of Endor is almost outshone by Charpentier’s
treatment of the same theme. Almost, but not quite, when the Purcell
is as well performed as it is on Hyperion (CDA66693 or as part
of the wonderful set of his complete Sacred Music, CDS44141/51,
Bargain of the Month – see
review).
The composition of the orchestra is listed in the booklet, with
the names of the players and the provenance of their instruments.
The chosen temperament, Werkmeister 3, dates from approximately
the same period as
David et Jonathas.
Cantillation’s choral contribution is also excellent, as we hear
at the very beginning of Act 1, where they sing the praise of
David, the choral parts broken up by fine solo contributions from
a Shepherd (Anna Fraser), a Warrior (David Greco) and two Captives.
David has been banished by the envious Saul and has taken refuge
with his Philistine enemies.
David is understandably chary of receiving their praise, as Anders
Dahlin makes clear on his first appearance,
Allez, le ciel
jaloux attend (CD1, tr.9) and his regretful
Ciel! Quel
triste combat en ces lieux me rappelle? (CD1, tr.10). Dahlin
has a fairly light tenor voice, though he is hardly the haut-contre
for whom the part was written. As with McMahon’s Witch, however,
only an outright purist would be likely to be upset by his performance.
Richard Anderson as Achis sings with conviction of his delight
to be fighting alongside David (CD1, tr.12). Francophones will
probably find his pronunciation the least idiomatic of all the
principal singers, but I didn’t find that this interfered with
my enjoyment of his singing; it’s not quite in same league as
Placido Domingo’s German, and I find myself willing to accept
that for the sake of the quality of his singing in the title role
of
Tannhäuser. Anderson’s voice blends and contrasts well
with Dahlin’s David.
Simon Lobelson’s Joabel opens Act 2 with his enquiry why David
does not hasten to victory (
Quel inutile soin en ces lieux
vous arreste? CD1, tr.14). As befits the less than attractive
figure of Joabel, he is outsung in purely vocal terms by David,
but his rendition of
Dépit jalouz (CD1, tr.15) strikes
just the right dramatic note.
Sara Macliver, a bright and attractive soprano, sang the part
of Abra on ABC/Pinchgut Opera’s earlier recording of Vivaldi’s
Juditha Triumphans (see below). Here she sings Jonathas,
David’s friend Jonathan, whose brief period of happy reconciliation
with David ends the first CD (Act 2, Scene 3, CD1, tr.16). Her
voice and Dahlin’s blend excellently in this scene. I could have
preferred a livelier account of the small part of Jonathan’s Follower
(Ashley Giles) but that is a very small criticism of a very successful
scene, ending a most satisfactory account of the first part. If
I wanted to be really picky, I could mention that the choir don’t
quite seem to get the rhythm of the word
jamais right in
their concluding chorus
Venez tous avec nous, but I think
that is largely Charpentier’s fault. I’m sure the audience retired
for the interval at this point well pleased with what they had
heard.
On CD2, in Acts 3-5, Joabel convinces Saul that David is once
more plotting against him and the truce is broken. Despite David’s
promise to Jonathan that he will do all that he can to save him
and his father, they are both slain in the ensuing battle with
the Philistines and Achis proclaims a grieving David the new King
of Israel. The librettist puts a dramatic spin on the biblical
account by making David present at the deaths of Saul and Jonathan
– he even converses with them. Surprisingly, however, when II
Samuel 1 offers a wonderful lament for David over the death of
Jonathan and Saul, and we might have had something akin to Thomas
Weelkes’ affective biblical setting of David’s Lament for Absalom,
‘When David heard that Absalom was dead’, the end of the work
moves straight from the death of Saul to Achis’s proclamation
and the triumphant chorus in which David is acknowledged as King
of Israel.
Act 3 begins with an imagined encounter for there is no biblical
authority, in which Achis tries to persuade Saul of David’s complete
loyalty, after which Saul gives way again to the demons which
are driving him and resolves that an honourable death is the only
possible outcome for him. Once again, as on the first CD, the
singing is excellent and the dramatic potential is not ignored.
Satisfied that the second half was going to be just as good as
the first, at this point I set aside my critical slate and simply
enjoyed the rest of the opera, though with my Beckmesser slate
ready to hand. Not once was I moved to take it up to record any
critical remarks.
The librettist may not have included that lament from II Samuel
for Saul and Jonathan, but there is one from David and the chorus
for Jonathan alone (
Ciel! Ciel! Il est mort, CD2, tr.17),
just before the final dialogue of David and Saul and the death
of the latter. This is just the kind of lament that needs to be
handled carefully if it is not to sound a parody of itself; not
least it requires the funereal aspect of the words to shine through
without being sung at too funereal a pace. The pace here and the
quality of the singing are just right, which means that the transition
to the triumphant march prefacing Achis’s proclamation of David
as King (
Joignez à vos exploits l’honneur du diadème, CD2,
tr19) is not too abrupt. Nor do Charpentier and his librettist
overdo the rejoicing at the end (CD2, tr.20). As throughout the
work and this performance and recording of it, everything in this
last scene is just right and the final rapturous applause again
justly deserved – it has to be faded out.
The first-rate singing throughout – even the singers of small
parts such as Captive 1 and Captive 2 are credited in the booklet,
page 33 – is also matched by excellently clear diction, though
none of the principals is, to the best of my knowledge, a native
French speaker, and I am not aware that any attempt is made to
match late-seventeenth-century French pronunciation, for example
of the -
oi- sound. Only Richard Anderson sounds slightly
less than fully idiomatic (see above).
As well as
David et Jonathas, Charpentier wrote a Latin-text
work on the same theme,
Mors Saulis et Jonathæ (H403),
of which there is a most attractive performance by Gérard Lesne
and Il Seminario Musicale on Naïve E8821, coupled with
Sacrificium
Abrahæ and
In Circumcisione Domini – see
review
– a wonderful recording which I discovered courtesy of the Naxos
Music Library and which certainly goes onto my wish/to buy list.
The same performers also offer a beautiful recording of Charpentier’s
settings of
Tenebræ on an inexpensive Virgin Veritas twofer
(522021 2 – see
review);
you can find some suggestions for further exploration of his music
in that
Tenebræ review.
I must add an excellent Hyperion recording of Charpentier’s 4-choir
Mass (
Messe à quatre chœurs),
le Reniement de S Pierre,
and other works, which I discovered courtesy of a
review
by John Quinn and downloaded from the Hyperion download site in
excellent lossless sound (Ex Cathedra/Jeffrey Skidmore,
CDA67435).
That recording, for me, replaces the good Malgoire recording of
the Mass, on Warner Apex 2564 617452, though that budget-price
CD remains recommendable for the Boyvin organ works on it.
I recently recommended an ABC Classics Pinchgut Opera recording
of Vivaldi’s
Juditha Triumphans (476 6957 – see
review);
if anything, the performance on this new Charpentier recording
is even better, especially as, unlike the Vivaldi, it has no current
competition. The recording is first rate, with very few extraneous
noises apart from the well-deserved applause at the end of each
CD. The presentation is good, with the libretto and an idiomatic
translation by Natalie Shea, together with perceptive and informative
notes by Erin Helyard. The addition of a summary might have been
useful. I wonder if a visual record was made of this production
and, if so, if there is any prospect of its appearing on DVD or
Blu-ray. Whatever the prospects of that might be, I am perfectly
content to give the CDs a strong recommendation; I did seriously
consider this set for Recording of the Month. You can hear the
whole of this performance on Naxos Music Library – but I can almost
guarantee that if you do, you will want to purchase the CDs, especially
when even the price is right.
Brian Wilson
Cantillation; Orchestra of the Antipodes/Antony Walker 
