Handel's Saul Gabrieli Consort and Players/Paul McCreesh with Susan Gritton, Nancy Argenta, Mark Padmore, Neal Davies, Andreas Scholl. Royal Festival Hall, 15 October 2002

A passionate biblical drama with a vivid text by Charles Jennens, Saul really cries out for at least semi-staging, which was provided here only by Paul McCreech himself, who seemed to need to gesticulate excessively to maintain concentration and tension - disconcerting that he continued to do so just behind his soloists even in quiet reflective arias! It is dampening to see oratorio soloists sitting in front of the orchestra, patiently waiting their turns. A little variety came from McCreesh's demonstration of the vocal strength of his choir, several of whom came forward to deliver arias and acquitted themselves excellently.

The soloists were a first rank team with Andreas Scholl and Susan Gritton both in perfect voice (Susan Gritton had been indisposed at Birmingham) but no one let the music down. The tempi were often fast, but everyone kept up. There is a succession of serious slower music in the last act. The restrained Dead March was moving and Scholl, in David's Elegy for Saul and Jonathan, outstanding.
I had mixed impressions of the performance as a whole, and experienced a telling illustration that in most halls (the KKL at Lucerne http://www.musicweb.uk.net/SandH/2001/Aug01/Lucerne1.htm is a notable exception) one cannot afford to ignore the crucial importance of seating positions in concert halls, which substantially affect subjective responses. Because The Barbican was sold out and we arrived just before the commencement, our allocated seats were separated, nor could programmes be found for us until the interval. Toward the back of the stalls, and without that visual aid, most of the words were inaudible and there was an edgy quality to the orchestral sound and choral singing, but for the second half (joining my wife who was the other side and a little closer to the platform) everything came miraculously into focus, with the text clear and far better sound. I was won over, and at the end shared the audience's enthusiasm.
Peter Grahame Woolf