Handel in Rome: A recital with Nardus Williams
Dunedin Consort, dir. John Butt, records cantatas by G. F. Handel during his Roman period with soprano Nardus Williams on Linn
The liner notes of this album quote the book by Ellen Harris, Handel as Orpheus which I have not yet finished. For those not acquainted, the book is a good analysis of Handel’s historical transformation as a composer for vocal works. Even experts beyond Harris acknowledge the impact his short time in Rome had upon his education and development as a composer. The period after his arrival in 1706 is ripe for some really good music written for voice alone or voices, outside the grander scale of opera and oratorio, for which he is better known.
The album features an up and coming British soprano in Nardus Williams. My preview of this album on Instagram led me to explore it, watching Butt at the harpsichord, and Williams patiently waiting for the introduction to pass. The Aria in the first piece, Ero e Leandro, HWV 150, should ring familiar: Se la morte non vorrà takes themes from his concerti grossi, but I could not confirm that, however, the music is reused in his opera, Agrippina. The whole piece is focused around a woman who is lamenting her love for a man from the scene of the sea. I can’t be sure, but I’m imagining another Arianna atop the rock scene. Williams uses vibrato quite regularly, which I am not a fan of, but her diction is nevertheless quite clear despite the vibrating. There are times, such as in the aforementioned aria, where she does temper the vibrating and then eventually falls into it along a long-held note, for which made me very happy.
Her emotional range is quite nice, I think, too, meeting the demands of the text. The aria Si muora, si muora (Let me die, let me die!) is framed in its needed somber mood. The opening is notable in her restraint with vibrato. The contribution from Williams I find quite nice, but the backup from Dunedin is where I am in want of more legato, more connection between the phrases, with less space between. The spacing is needed for articulation in a large space, but the space in which this recording was made is more chamber-like in signature. Part of this effect is the difference in volume between the upper strings and the lower; while I think the position of the harpsichord further away makes sense, I wanted to hear more from the bowed and plucked continuo in the recording. The spatial definition might be amplified using headphones, as I did, but these are small quibbles in what is otherwise a nicely done recital.
The mood is quite different as we hear the opening to the next piece, Tra le Fiamme from HWV 170. This cantata is an homage to Daedalus. I can’t be sure, but this seems like the perfect fodder for an Arcadian audience. The concert notes from a separate concert give some background into the Arcadian Academy. It was in this venue that Handel was able to hear the work of other notable composers, and learn from their style.
This cantata has been presented before on record, as we might imagine. The King’s Consort presents it with Carolyn Sampson, but compared to Williams, I found her vibrato even more intrusive. A 2000 recording with Les Musiciens du Louvre with Magdalena Kozená was in some ways enlightening; the instrumental support was less up front, and a bit more sensitively played under the direction of Marc Minkowski. Kozená too uses vibrato, but her overall sound is more smooth and relaxing. Under Butt’s direction, the aria Voli per l’aira chi può volare could have used more orchestral drama. The piece includes a virtuosic line for the viola da gamba. The recording by Les Ombres with Chantal Jeffery as the soloist has a far more direct sound; in both cases the gamba is a bit in the dark (les ombres, taken literally). I think overall sound from the Ombres recording is superior, but both are performed equally well.
The final major work is Armida abbandonata HWV 105. In the Aria Venti, fermate Williams’ timbre, sharper, and captured a little more directly, was nice. The intensity of this piece was more relaxed under the direction of Emmanuelle Haïm in her recording of Handel’s Italian Cantatas from 2018 on Erato. Sabine Devieihe is the soprano, who has a far crystalline upper register, but it’s not really needed in this piece, I think. Once you hear the opening aria, Ah, crudele! I don’t think you could want more than what Williams presents under Butt’s direction. It’s in this piece she reveals an almost two-sided approach to her voice’s sound. One is more harmonically rich, and how she can lean into this, I think, is a real talent.
The final track on this recording is from Il tironfo del Tempo e del Disinganno HWV 46a. This aria, Tu del ciel ministro eletto, written in Handel’s Roman period, is from an oratorio, and as you might well recognize, one of his more favorite arias. Again, given the drier acoustic of the Menuhin hall, I would liked to have heard this performed a touch faster. As elsewhere in this release, the first violinist, Matthew Truscott, provides excellent support with his solos.
While this recital may have benefitted from some work around the acoustic in which it was recorded, or at least in how the small orchestra adapted to its drier sound, the overall musicianmanship on display is high. Williams may be a less familiar name than some of those I’ve compared her to here, but she’s an excellent talent. Her control of vibrato, which in terms of vibrato in general I prefer less than more, is good; she shows that she can shut it off when she wants to and those times where she switches it on or holds it back is always a powerful interpretive concept. While there are other recordings of these works, and some of them quite good, there’s no reason to not have more. This album I hope propel’s Williams’ career in showing she is an apt and sensitive interpreter of Handel’s music.
