Barthold Hinrich Brockes was a prolific poet of the early-German Enlightenment. From a literary standpoint Brockes's most important and, indeed, voluminous work—nine sturdy volumes—is his Irdisches Vergnugen in Gott ( ''Earthly Contentment in God''). Handel's Nine German Arias, if you recall, come from the first two volumes of the collection. For many eighteenth-Century composers, however, the importance of Brockes as a writer lay in his Passion oratorio libretto, Der fur die Sunden der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus ( ''Jesus martyred and dying for the wickedness of the world''). It was published in 1712 and almost at once was set to music by the Hamburg composer Reinhard Keiser; other settings followed during Brockes's lifetime notably by Telemann, Mattheson, Stolzel, Fasch and the present one by Handel which belongs to the years 1716-17.
Brockes's text is a paraphrase of the Passion story based on the accounts provided in the four Gospels. It might not appear, on the fact of it, that an approach such as that could offer the poet much in the way of an original contribution, yet an expressive individuality does emerge from the many contemplative numbers as well as solemnity and a grandeur of design which are in accordance with a prevailing spirit of the period. There is also, a rather indulgent piestistic element in the text which cloys after a short while and Brockes, furthermore, seldom loses an opportunity to moralize. Nevertheless, his images are striking and evidently of a kind that made appeal to composers of the late Baroque. There is not much scope here, of course, for the kind of imagery at which Brockes excelled, a minute depiction of the world about him amounting almost to a divinization of nature. Much of the sentiment expressed here is frankly commonplace and, at times, banal to twentieth-century sensibilities, but as I say, it served its purpose several times over and was highly regarded in Handel's time. Handel, it goes almost without saying, never stoops to illustrating the banalities of the text, preferring to concentrate on injecting some much-needed drama into the sequence of events. The success with which he does so is, perhaps, a little uneven, but there are some grand and memorable gestures here, all the same.
The present performance begins with a Sinfonia belonging to what is considered to be the earliest of the sources; Handel's autograph has not survived. Two of its movements later found their way into the Concerto grosso, Op. 3 No. 2. What follows is a sequence of recitataives, arias, choruses and chorales. The Evangelist and other persons in the drama concerned with narrative dialogue sing in recitative, mainly secco but sometimes accompagnato. The four-part choruses provide the turba element and the reflective numbers, far and away the most prominent feature in the work, are set in a variety of ways. The chorales occupy a comparatively small part of Brockes's scheme and generally occur at the end of major events in the Passion story.
Commentators are, on the whole, lukewarm in their assessment of Handel's Brockes Passion. None of the choruses is as impressive as those found in the English oratorios and only a few of the arias, perhaps, possess Handelian distinction or might be described as distinctively Handelian. This new performance, however, has persuaded me that there is more of note in the music than I had previously realized. Nicholas McGegan directs a stylish and lively account of the oratorio having at his disposal a largely first-rate group of soloists and an effective if not always polished orchestra. The weak element is the chorus but I hasten to add that it was never so weak as significantly to mar my enjoyment. In fact the timbre of the upper voices, especially, is delightfully fresh but they lack strength in projection and at times fall into untidy ensemble. Occasionally this is true of the orchestra though there are many instances of fine ensemble playing and eloquent solo and concertino contributions. The string playing in Jesus's aria, ''Mein Vater, mein Vater! Schau, wie ich mich quale'' is just one of such instances.
Amongst the soloists there are none that I would describe as inadequate and several that are first-rate. Martin Klietmann's Evangelist, a tenor role, wins my highest admiration. His diction is clear, his intonation dependable, and his articulation of the text affecting. His entire approach, together with a slightly nasal quality, places him firmly and, at times, uncannily in the Helmut Krebs vocal tradition. Krebs was, for me, the finest interpreter of the Evangelist's role in the Bach Passions and Klietmann sounds an impressive successor to him. Istvan Gati's Jesus is also strong and persuasive. Best known to UK audiences will be the tenor, Guy de Mey who sings the roles of a Faithful Soul and of Peter. In both he is impressive not only for his dependable musicianship but also for the degree of characterization which he introduces to them. His slightly menacing ''Erwag', ergimmte Natterbrut'', introduces just the right amount of colouring to this section of the text concerning original sin, albeit a mild example of Brockes's taste for extravagant images. In contrast with that, Guy de Mey's Peter conveys an effective anxiety, the inner conflict, on one hand, and a reflective lyricism such as we find in the poignant ''Schau, ich fall'' in strenger Busse'', on the other. Drew Minter gives a fine account of the role of Judas and Maria Zadori's Daughter of Zion is also impressive. The remaining role of prominence is that of a Faithful Soul—there are four of them altogether. Katalin Farkas has an attractive voice and an impressive technique but she, alone, amongst the soloists finds difficulty in settling in the centre of her notes. She and the orchestra are too often at odds where pitch is concerned and, though it is a small matter, not enough, perhaps, to give rise to serious concern, it is especially noticeable in a context where other singers are so dependable.
To sum up, the solo singing, the stylish approach, the lively and affectionate direction have resulted in a splendid achievement. Martin Klietmann, Guy de Mey and Istvan Gati have ensured for me the indispensability of this set. It is very well recorded with an effective reasonance which never blurs detail. The booklet contains full texts in several languages. Warmly recommended.'