Michael Nyman’s new version of Ombra Mai Fu is “trademark Nyman,” says Harry Christophers, who’ll be conducting. “There’s a repetitive pattern at the beginning and a long instrumental introduction, but he’s preserved the tune and put intricate woodwind and string patterns over the top of it. It’s his own take on it. That’s the lovely thing about this all.”
Christophers admits it will be quite a challenge to bring some kind of framework to the concert, so works by Handel in their original form will be performed alongside the reinterpretations, commenting on and grounding, and, in some cases, pairing, the new works. There’ll be the overtures to Saul, and to Xerxes, which will lead straight into Nyman’s piece. The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba pairs with Tavener’s treatment, while David Daniels will be singing two “straight” arias, Dove Sei, from Rodelinda, and Vivi Tiranno, from Guilio Cesare.
“I’m starting to freak out a bit how much singing there is,” Daniels says, “but it’s only one night. It’ll be fine.” Does he know what Muhly’s got in store for him, I wonder? The concert closes with the young composer’s take on another aria from Guilio Cesare, the notoriously tricky Al Lampo dell’Armi.
“It’s like the countertenor’s Paganini — with these fabulous vocal fireworks,” says Muhly. “It’s a very fast, very complicated pitter-patter — a weird little piece of acrobatics. To be honest I’d always found it kind of annoying. So I thought, ‘This will be fun to do!’”
With the precision of a surgeon, Muhly has stripped away much of the orchestration, introduced different rhythms, and dispensed with the text, too. “I’ve got rid of everything that was in the way, so you can see exactly what’s going on — the technicality of it. I wanted to call attention to the mechanics of the fireworks of these kind of vocal lines.” And so Daniels will be singing what Muhly calls “vocalese.”
“The thing with music like this is you want it to point towards the original,” says Muhly. “It’s like designing a building that draws the eye to another building. Or it’s like making a beautiful bench on which you can sit to see [London’s] St Paul’s Cathedral. With someone like Handel the footprint of his influence is so epic that it’s nice to see the edge of that reverberation — who’s listening to it now? What are they thinking about it? What attracts them to it?”
“Hearing new music by five composers will be fantastic,” says Daniels. “Whether everyone in the audience loves every piece it’s really not the point. We’re doing this in celebration of Handel’s life and this is an homage to him, not just from me but from the composers as well.”
Van Leer welcomes the debate the project might provoke. “Some people think it’s the freshest, best, most interesting thing ever to reimagine these great works by this great composer. Other people see it as a great affront — how could you possibly rethink someone as hallowed as Handel? I’m not looking for a homogeneous response to either the work or the reinterpretations of the work. I’m just looking for a fresh dialogue.”
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