Feeling miserable, lacking life-energising force, in despair at the state of the world? Fear not, the musical doctor has the right prescription for you. A dose of Haydn. Better still, a mega dose. Like The Creation. That should do the trick. And it frequently does, as was mostly the case in this performance given by London Philharmonic forces conducted by Edward Gardner.
Haydn wanted a big sound for his oratorio. Indeed, about 180 individuals were involved in the Viennese premiere, the orchestral players outnumbering the chorus by about two to one. Here, the numbers were reversed, and with the choristers seated immediately behind the orchestra there were bold and thrilling sounds in all the choruses. Gardner aimed for a period-style instrumental approach, with minimal vibrato, razor-sharp trumpets, rasping trombones and hard-sticked timpani, in which the consistently mellifluous woodwind provided an oasis of calm. Though the string playing was never less than neat and tidy, I missed a stronger bass line and often the inner detail never had much opportunity to shine through.
Paul McCreesh’s recent revisions to the original English text have removed a lot of its clunkiness, but some weaknesses still remain. The English “Achieved is the glorious work” fails to match the impact of “Vollendet ist das grosse Werk”, mainly because of the fuller, more open vowel sounds in the German. Gardner conducted the score lovingly, yet there were a few moments when I would have wished for greater Old Testament fervour and intensity. One such instance came in the chorus “The Lord is great and great his might”, just before the interval break, where the single word “ever”, especially when starting from a lower dynamic level, should mushroom out in an enveloping crescendo like the expression of perfect ecstasy.
Two of the soloists distinguished themselves. From her first solo as Gabriel, detailing “The glorious heav’nly hierarchy”, Louise Alder’s bell-like clarity stood out, aided by a sense of exultation. Her big aria at the start of Part 2, “On mighty pens uplifted soars”, provided a splendid vehicle for her coloratura, the florid runs sparkling like fresh morning dew in the morning sunlight, infused with palpable rapture for the repeated “cooing” of the pair of turtle doves. In Part 3 the warmth and creaminess of her voice revealed in her exchanges with Adam an infinite delight in the wonders of Creation. Allan Clayton as Uriel demonstrated a remarkable range of colour and dynamics in his many recitatives, not least in the way he opened Part 3 with authority and sensitivity. Earlier, he created a feeling of intimacy and wonderment by paring his voice down to almost a whisper for “steals the moon through still and silent night”.
One of the problems in performance for the bass-baritone soloist is ensuring a convincing transition from Raphael’s recitatives to his later role as Adam. In some concerts and recordings two different singers are used, the bass elements underpinning the narrative, leaving the lighter baritonal colours for Adam. Michael Mofidian had a slightly shaky start with a graininess to the voice that didn’t quite draw the listener in for the initial storytelling. The inky blackness he discovered for “sinuous trace the worm” was nonetheless impressive, and later he worked well with Alder in his assumption of Adam.
It is worth remembering that when Haydn wrote The Creation and in the immediate years following, when it was being performed to great acclaim all over Europe, much of the continent was in the grip of a brutal war of conquest, domination and tyranny. Now, as then, the world needs not darkness but lots of light.
