Susan Gritton, Lorna Anderson, Claron McFadden, Paul Agnew, Neal Davies

Choir of The King's Consort, The King's Consort

Robert King (conductor)

L'allegro is one of Handel's works which has no right to work for a modern
audience. Based on a set of poems by Milton which evoke the character types
dominated by "mirth" and "melancholy", it tediously adds the moderate
character who combines the good features of both and the vices of neither.
It not only uses a psychological system that seems completely alien --
"mirth" these days is clinicalized as psychopathic behaviour and
"melancholy" as depression --, it also has no narrative drive, so that the
music could be seen as at best witty and at worst schematic.

But me, and for many other people, Mark Morris' delightful dance version
rescued L'allegro from the realm of ethical archaeology and showed its
emotions as communal joie de vivre and individual seriousness, or tender
reflectiveness. I'm convinced that Morris got it right. There are both joy
and seriousness in Handel's music, and also something profoundly moving. As
Peter Sellars did with Theodora, Morris had his performers embody
(literally) what the piece is about and got to its heart.

Sellars and Morris could to this partly because L'allegro shares with
Theodora the strong musical contrasts between types of characters -- the
Romans in Theodora have similar music to the more bumptious parts of
L'allegro, the Christians, who find pleasure in spiritual things, to Il
penseroso and Il moderato. Though Il penseroso is clearly an Anglican (with
a smells'n'bells organ interlude) while in Theodora the Romans are
Anglicans, with their attractive but conventional and morally sterile
religion. The musical and literary world of L'allegro also close to that of
Solomon, an English pastoral with lots of jollity but thoroughly controlled
civilized values. Solomon might also benefit from a thoroughly visual and
physical production.

This performance by the King's Consort included the full version as revised
by Handel, and inevitably delivered more of the musical detail than the ENO
performance, which had the singers and chorus in the orchestra pit. It was
thoroughly enjoyable on its own terms, though I'm still grateful to Morris'
company for helping me to get it.

Susan Gritton was outstanding in the mezzoid airs, all of which belong to
Il penseroso. She has a huge voice, and sang in a "traditional" English
Handel style, giving the more depressive airs an operatic intensity. Claron
McFadden has a much smaller voice and superb technique, making L'allegro
essentially HIP. Lorna Anderson sang music for both types. She also has a
small, elegant voice. Her singing of Sweet bird in particular was very
moving, suggesting an early sketch of the musical and emotional ideas about
isolation and elation that later emerged in Theodora's two arias in prison,
In darkness deep and O that I on wings might fly. (Anderson covered the
role of Theodora in the Glyndebourne tour in 1996.)

Paul Agnew was impeccable, as ever, suggesting slightly arch exuberance,
and Neal Davies was pure bounce, singing a gleeful duet with the hunting
horn. Andrew Clark played a mean horn as well. Rachel Brown played the
flute part, imitating the nightingale, beautifully in the parallel duet for
L'allegro with Lorna Anderson. The King's Consort chorus was splendid, and
the only problem with the orchestra was that it overwhelmed the singers at
some points.

This concert was sponsored by Xerox (most repulsive looking canapes I've
ever seen, something like cockles wrapped in seared zucchini slices) and
Arthur Anderson's (Moet and potato crisps, and dark grey suits on all
sexes). Pretty impressive for a marginal work of a fuddy-duddy composer.