Auckland Choral's dramatic Israel in Egypt

Israel in Egypt by George Frideric Handel
Auckland Choral
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell
March 10

Handel's Israel in Egypt becomes something of a contemporary political parable in view of the current problems in the Middle East by telling the Biblical story of the Israeli escape from slavery in Egypt.

Auckland Choral’s latest production of the work avoided any obvious reference to these recent conflicts and concentrated on the drama, which is more about divine intervention than geo-political rivalry.

The oratorio follows more of a narrative thread than the composer's more well-known Messiah, charting the tale of oppression of the Jews in Egyptian bondage, the plagues indicted on Egypt, the escape of the Jews through the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army.

Handel uses music and texts to create a drama of epic proportions and Auckland Choral used its musical resources to stage a brilliant performance.

The singers of the 170-year old institution have been at their best over the last few years able to take on new and challenging work as well as their annual performances of the Messiah. They continue to be one of the jewels in Auckland's cultural crown.

The oratorio provides ample opportunity for the choir to show its strengths and they managed some impressive singing. From the aggressive crescendo of “He gave them hailstones for rain” to the joyous, light filled “He led them forth like sheep” chorus members showed they have mastered the subtleties of choral singing.

The several chorusesabout the release of the Jews such as “And Egypt was glad when they departed” conveyed brilliantly a range of feelings and emotions – despair, elation, pride and wonder.

Conductor Uve Grodd used various sections the choir to interweave and layer some parts of the chorus such as “He spake the word”

The first half of the work is sparse in its use of soloists but counter tenor Dean Sky-Lucas gave a fine account of ”Their land brought forth frogs.” Although his voice did not have great volume, the conductor ensured that the orchestra never overwhelmed him allowing his ornate voice to shine.

Of all the soloists, tenor Manase Latu stood out with an impressive performance, which showed a power and control and ability to draw emotion from the words. The one failing was using his face to express some of the violence of the text.

Sopranos Morag Atchison and Madison Nonoa singing “The Lord is my Strength” gave finely articulated performances, their voices complementing each other with Nonoa's voice having a meticulous clarity.

In “The Lord is a Man of War,” The two bass singers Benson Wilson and Ben Kubiak competed with each other with Benson dominating at times but each had well-modulated voices.

Mezzo soprano Dilys Fong had a light voice which worked well when she sang with Manase Latu but singing  “Thou shalt bring them in” she failed to carry the drama she was required to express.

The Auckland University Orchestra gave a superb performance. Many of the members were quite young but they showed and a maturity of playing and expression. In some sections they demonstrated a real understanding of the music such as “He smote all the first born” where the strings gave guillotine- like slashes with their bows, emphasising the savagery of the events.