Zenith Ensemble: Handel: Nine German Arias
Zenith Ensemble

Apparently Handel's Nine German Arias is rarely performed, which is a tad surprising when this exquisite work possesses such immediate appeal. It was a canny move, then, on Zenith Ensemble's part to give its full attention to it when doing so casts as much light on the three hundred-year-old work as the critically acclaimed outfit performing it. And when the voice of the ensemble's Artistic Director, soprano Nacole Palmer, couples with Marika Holmqvist's baroque violin, Rebecca Humphrey's baroque cello, and Barbara Weiss's harpsichord, the results are intimate, nuanced treatments that breathe with a clarity appropriate to the spirit of this mellifluous work. Typically the soprano and violinist adopt the role of soloists, with the others providing continuo support.

The German texts derive from the poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680–1747), a town councilor of Hamburg. Published three years after the first, the second edition of his 1721 collection Irdisches Vergnügen in Gott was purportedly Handel's source for the texts of the arias. The title translates to “Earthy Pleasure in God” (or “'Earthly Comforts of God”), which accords with the overall sentiment of a collection of cantata texts celebrating the magnificence of His creation. It's speculated that the arias weren't conceived as a song cycle but were instead composed in three batches between 1724 and 1726; regardless, they gather into a thoroughly satisfying fifty-minute whole in Zenith Ensemble's hands.

All four of the ensemble's members bring distinguished performing and recording credentials to the group statement. The award-winning Palmer has sung Handel, Bach, Haydn, Orff, and Mozart on some of the globe's most prestigious stages, while Holmqvist has served as concertmaster for orchestras and opera companies on three continents and currently holds leadership positions with Washington Bach Consort, Reykjavik International Baroque Orchestra, Spire Ensemble, and others. Philadelphia-based Humphrey is a member of several chamber ensembles, including Kleine Kammermusik, Night Music, aMuse, Franklin Quartet, and Galline, while Weiss has been on faculty at Oberlin Conservatory, the Peabody Institute, Concordia College,and currently teaches harpsichord at Swarthmore College.

“Meine Seele Hört Im Sehen” both captivates with a ravishing opening melody and reinforces the work's theme in opening lines that finds the soul rejoicing in the splendour of God's creation and the blossoming of spring. The ensemble's light and lyrical touch is elevated by glorious back-and-forth between the soprano and violin as each repeats the other's melismatic phrases. The sensuous sarabande that follows, “Künftiger Zeiten Eitler Kummer,” emphasizes the soul's contentment with the life bestowed upon it by the Creator, its serenity mirrored in the lyrical flow of the music and the performance delivered at a deliciously slow tempo. An admonishing message grounds “Die Ihr Aus Dunklen Grüften” when the singer stresses that those digging for treasure in the dark are wasting their time when the riches of God's creation are all around; consistent with that, Handel's graceful music assumes an entreating, even pleading tone.

Handel's deployment of a stately triple-time metre in “Singe Seele, Gott Zum Preise” proves invigorating and again suits text that extols a deity capable of adorning the world with natural beauty. The singer relatedly determines in “Flammende Rose, Zierde Der Erden” that eyes beholding earth's gardens can't help but regard their splendour as evidence of God's handiwork. One of the loveliest performances is the quartet's heartfelt rendering of Handel's beautiful “Süße Stille, Sanfte Quelle,” which, marked Larghetto, finds the singer contemplating the eternal peace that will come when the toils of earthly existence end.

January 2025