Auckland Choral Society at the Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

AUCKLAND TOWN HALL - The Auckland Choral Society's first concert of the season forcibly reminded us that Handel is much more than the man who wrote Messiah although, if that oratorio had been scheduled instead of Solomon, it no doubt would have attracted a fuller house.

Solomon combines choral splendour with some of the composer's loveliest solo writing; all this as well as a subject which would have had certain political resonances in 1749. Indeed, in 2002, with the turmoil in the Middle East, the scene in which Zadok lays out the glories of Jerusalem has an ironic poignancy.

The combined Auckland Choral Society and New Plymouth Ars Nova sang with gusto under Peter Watts, although they were more impressive when textures were weightier. As happened with the violins of Pipers Sinfonia, strained intonation seeped through in more exposed passages. There was no worry, however, in the great set pieces, such as the ravishing May no rash intruder.

Anne Lamont-Low's Solomon, at ease with the many Handelian flourishes in her airs, did not always make the most of the various recitatives. With Kenneth Cornish's Zadok, it was just the opposite, and Cornish thrilled with his ability to sustain a narrative, the culmination of decades of oratorio experience.

Patricia Wright's First Woman was a creature of flesh and blood, and her confrontation with a feisty Gina Sanders was chilling. Later, as the Queen of Sheba, coming on stage during a rather earthbound play-through of her famous "Entrance", Wright had no shortage of regal tone. What a pity then that we were denied her superb aria, Will the sun forget to streak, in this severely edited version of the score.

On the instrumental side, there were many imaginative touches including a burst of trumpet from Philip Lloyd at the close of one chorus and the quite terrifying combination of harpsichord, two cellos and a bass to suggest the violence of a battle to come - yet another touch that inevitably reminded of the situation in Israel and the universality of this and other Handel oratorios.