Samson - Handel

Handel's Samson was completed in 1742, immediately after Messiah. It was included in the Guinness Choir's first season, and the same choir presented it in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, last Saturday night, almost exactly 50 years later.

The performance was not impeccable, for there were a few ill-focused starts, problems with ensemble, and, especially in the sopranos and altos, weaknesses of choral intonation. But it was significant that not one of these distracted from a well-judged, effective account.

Samson includes massive choruses, wind-rich orchestration, and larger-than-life characters.

Its temptations to excess were ably and consistently resisted by the conductor, David Milne.

The initial impression was of a small sound for such a large group. But everything was so precisely scaled and timed that one was quickly drawn in. A reliable and responsive orchestra, an excellent continuo group, and an overall cleanness and focus allowed the music to speak for itself.

And what music! Its intimacy was epitomised by With plaintive notes, an extraordinary duet between Dalila and violin, the latter beautifully played by the orchestral leader, Kenneth Rice. Handel's massive effects were precisely conveyed by the confident and rhythmically nimble choir.

In this most-operatic of oratorios, John Elwes (tenor) was commanding in the rhetorical flair of the title role.

His duets with Philip O'Reilly (bass), who was convincing and portentous as the Philistine giant Harapha, were a dramatic highlight.

Colette McGahon (alto) got every ounce of humanity out of her roles and was a model of vocal reliability.

The concert's success was summed up by the lucid, utterly natural singing of Olive Simpson (soprano). The smiles all round the audience as she sang, with deceptive ease, the final aria Let the Bright Seraphim, said it all.