Handel’s ‘Belshazzar’
St Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh, 7/6/2025
Edinburgh Bach Choir, Nicholas Wilks (conductor)
It’s quite the leap from Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony with the RSNO in the Usher Hall to Handel’s oratorio ‘Belshazzar’ in St Cuthbert’s Church with the Edinburgh Bach Choir, but your roving reporter has made that giant bungee jump in just 24 hours!
A total contrast, but it led to two immensely satisfying evenings in Scotland’s Capital. St Cuthbert’s Church, nestled below St John’s Episcopal Church at the western end of Princes’ Street, is an iconic venue in many ways. I’ve always felt it looks and feels more like an Austrian church than a Scottish one, and indeed with the Castle looming above its neo-baroque towers, the whole scene could be in Salzburg rather than Edinburgh. Designed by the exotically named, but Scottish, architect, Hippolyte Blanc (born in Frederick Street to French parents, who ran a shoe shop in George Street, Madame Blanc et Fils), and dedicated in 1894, St Cuthbert’s has a spectacular interior with a very fine acoustic As such it is perfect for baroque music, like Handel’s ‘Belshazzar’, which was presented by the Edinburgh Bach Choir, conducted by Nicholas Wilks, on Saturday 7th June.
‘Belshazzar’ was first performed in London in 1745, the year of the Jacobite Uprising, which ended at Culloden almost exactly a year later. It fell into neglect after Handel’s death in 1759, and has been revived on and off, occasionally, ever since. I sang the role of Gobryas in the 1990s in London but have not heard it since then. The librettist was Charles Jennens, who supplied the libretto for ‘Messiah’, but it was much amended at the time by Handel and needs careful editing now as it is very long indeed. Nicholas Wilks, the Musical Director of the Edinburgh Bach Choir since August 2024, has made an extremely good job of editing, keeping the performance down to just over 2 hours with an interval, but retaining the narrative of the biblical story intact. Based on the Book of Daniel, it is a splendidly dramatic story of the fall of Babylon at the hands of Cyrus the Great, Prince of Persia, the freeing of the captured Jewish nation who had been weeping by the Waters of Babylon, and featuring the famous writing on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace in the middle of an orgy of drunken revelry, mysterious writing translated by the prophet Daniel and leading to the death of Belshazzar!
The score is excellent mature Handel and the Bach Choir and the Edinburgh Bach Society Orchestra, led by Elizabeth Beeston, sang and played pretty well. The small tenor section was somewhat tested but generally the choir was well-trained by Nicholas Wilks, and delivered the text clearly and powerfully, whether as carousing Babylonians, warlike Persians or incarcerated Jews.
It’s great to see the tradition of a fine amateur choir, founded in 1909, being continued into the present day, and the fairly large number of participants under the age of fifty was encouraging. Bravo the EBC!
The advent of trumpets and drums in the second half brought outstanding playing from Bede and Vicky Williams and Alan Emslie.
The triumph of the evening was the solo quintet, who sang superbly and characterised all the dramatic parts with flair and imagination. Jerome Knox’s baritone (I don’t think he needs to use the current catch-all moniker of bass-baritone) was strong and flexible, with a fine command of line and clear diction. Catherine Backhouse was a feisty Prophet Daniel, expressive throughout her range, and commanded attention whenever she sang. The same could be said of Lea Shaw in the other trouser role of Cyrus, the two mezzo voices nicely contrasting with the creamy soprano of Jessica Leary, as Nitocris, the mother of Belshazzar. One of the highlights of the evening was the duet towards the end between Nitocris and Cyrus, two voices perfectly in harmony.
I haven’t come across Ms Leary before, but I was most impressed with her beautifully placed voice, a rich soprano full of variety and nuance. Her biography hints of lesser roles in the past, but I am prepared to guess that we shall be hearing her in more exacting parts soon, and I look forward to that.
The title role was sung by the Irish tenor, Aaron O’Hare, recently converted from baritone roles, and displaying all the attributes of a fine tenor. His performance was most dramatic, and none the worse for that, as Belshazzar is one of biblical history’s most notorious characters. Mr O’Hare brought intelligence and insight to this crazy figure, backed by good technique, and his final interpolated top C was terrific!
Nicholas Wilks held the whole thing together nicely, and the audience decanted into the rainy West End uplifted.
