Handel’s Israel in Egypt is one of the less well known of his English language oratorios.  It’s also got a bit of an ofdd performance history with the first of the three acts often omitted.  The new recording from period instrument ensemble Apollo’s Fire includes all three acts but omits some numbers and shortens others in a selection made by music director Jeannette Sorrell.  This appears not to be uncommon.  A quick scan of available recordings revealed performance durations of anywhere from 75 minutes to 150 minutes.  This one comes in right on the bottom end of that range.

So what’s it about?  The three acts deal, respectively, with the Israelites mourning the death of Joseph, the plagues of Egypt and subsequent flight and the Israelites praising God for their deliverance.  It’s pretty condensed; especially in this version.  For example it takes all of twelve minutes to cover the plagues!  The text, like Messiah, is entirely biblical but being, mainly, from Psalms and Exodus, it’s a bit less weird than Jennens’ eclectic selection of texts.

Musically it’s OK.  A lot of the setting is for chorus only and some of it is quite lugubrious.  The movements that include soloists (there are five; two sopranos, countertenor, tenor and baritone) rend to be livelier and there are some cool passages.  The use of timpani in “But the waters overwhelmed their enemies” is dramatic and the trumpet and oboe accompaniment for the baritone in “To God our strength, sing loud and clear” is effective.  That said I think many of Handel’s English language oratorios are much better.  I’m not sure one would trade Theodora, Semele or Solomon, let alone Messiah for this.  Maybe that’s why dramatically shortened versions are the vogue?

The performance here though is good.  The chorus (Apollo’s Singers) are excellent and the ensemble; strings plus two oboes, bassoon, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, organ and harpsichord sounds great with an authentic period instrument sound.  The soloists; Margaret Carpenter Haigh and Molly Netter – sopranos, Daniel Moody – countertenor, Jacob Perry – tenor and Edward Vogel – baritone, are perfectly sound too.

The recording was made in First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights, Ohio and the acoustic is definitely “grand church” which is what I imagine First Baptist, being in Shaker Heights, is.  For Toronto comparisons I’m thinking something like Grace Church on the Hill.  But it’s clear and vivid with the words clearly audible.  There are various options; standard physical CD, MP3, CD res FLAC and 96kHz/24bit FLAC.  I actually listened through on the physical CD but then went back to check a couple of tracks against the hi-res digital.  It’s noticeably better.  There’s a deeper more solid bass extension and just a bit more detail generally.  The booklet is excellent with details on the history of the piece, the texts, and the rationale for this performing version.

If you want a well recorded, condensed version of Israel in Egypt on period instruments this is a pretty good choice.  There are plenty of other options though including much more complete versions and modern instruments.

Catalogue number: Avie records AV2629