Reviewed by James Karas
Composing and having an opera produced in the 18th century was a complex business unless you stuck to Greek mythology. There are some fantastic stories in the Old Testament, but you could only write holy oratorios if you wanted your work produced. Things were improving at the time, but it was still risky.
George Frideric Handel called Saul a dramatic oratorio, a stunning work based on the Book of Samuel about King Saul (Christopher Purves) and his son Jonathan. The latter had a close and dedicated friend, David. You may know very little about the first two, but you have met the statue of David many times and you know who he is: he killed the giant Philistine Goliath with his sling shot against all odds.
There is a story there but don’t call it an opera. Handel called it an Oratorio and added “or Sacred Drama.” That’s on the safe side of the law. He also called it “An Epinicion” a nice Greek word meaning “Song of Triumph” and further explained that it was about the victory over Goliath and the Philistines. Maybe you can produce this without the permission of the Bishop of London?
The Glyndebourne Festival has produced a magnificent and entertaining Saul. The opera has some stunning choral pieces and is visually fabulous and a pleasure to watch. It opens with an “epinicion” sung by the Chorus of Israelites praising the Lord and David who destroyed Goliath with a slingshot. We see a huge head of his victim on the stage which is rolled over and we witness the eye that David hit.
That is not the main story of Saul but the relationship between Saul’s son Jonathan and the low-born David is. Jonathan and David are friends who swear eternal fealty to each other, They are FRIENDS. Saul, with hair down to his buttocks, becomes jealous of the praise that David gets and decides that he hates him. Really hates him and orders Jonathan to snuff him.
Saul has some gorgeous choruses, but we do not go to the opera to hear religious choruses. Director Barrie Koskie and his crew make sure of that with a large and splendid chorus lined up on the stage amid beautiful flower arrangements. They do more than sing. They move their hands and arms, make wild gestures and engage in physical acts that are entertaining. Saul pushes people to the floor and garners laughs. Saul is slightly deranged, and he is a comic figure who runs around the stage like a lunatic, and he is more of a clown than a king. That is how you change an oratorio into an opera or at least an entertainment.
Saul’s daughter Michal (soprano Soraya Mafi) falls in love with David, and she jumps up and down, giggling and the audience loves her. Her sister Merab (Sarah Brady) rejects David because he is not of royal blood, and she gets our contempt and no laughs.
The opera turns somber and serious in the second half leading to the glorious Dead March in the third act. It is a startling contrast that turns the oratorio into an opera as if that mattered.
Countertenor Iestyn Davies sings David with his gorgeous voice and stage presence. Tenor Linard Vrielink sings the part of Jonathan, David’s troubled friend who is ordered by his father to kill David. The plot and the biblical story of the succession to the throne and the establishment of the House of David are neatly solved: Jonathan and Saul are killed in war.
Unstinting praise must be meted out to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Glyndebourne Chorus conducted by Jonathan Cohen. They have, as I said, some stunning pieces to perform and sing and they perform gorgeously. There are splendid dance routines choreographed by Otto Pichler.
Saul by George Frideric Handel will be performed on various dates until July 24, 2025, at the Glyndebourne Festival, East Sussex, England. www.glyndebourne.com
