On Handel

I attended a somewhat boring performance of Handel's Semele the other night. It wasn't unenjoyable necessarily, but come the umpteenth da capo aria I was longing for some change, some more vitality in the music. Handel's music, I often find, is not that interesting on the page -- it is more an outline of something interesting -- and if there is not a considerable interpretative and improvisatory effort it will not be a good performance. It is not like Bach, whose music is absolutely fascinating on the page, and not only requires little embellishment but hardly allows for any. Nor is it like Domenico Scarlatti, breaming with character and surprise, nor the sumptuous, inventive lyricism of Purcell. Handel is big, clear, memorable -- majestic, even -- but not, I suppose the word might be 'fine'. He often manages to say both too much and too little.

My problem might simply be the performances I've heard. I stumbled across this recording of Rindaldo by René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester. Listening to the first half-hour, it's much, much better. Some early music groups have a rather stilted style, but this performance feels truly alive, indeed present: