A Glimpse Behind the Scenes: Recording Handel

Bridget Cunningham

We are fortunate to have a huge amount of incredible recordings available at our fingertips, enabling us to enjoy Handel’s music wherever we are. With an ever-changing rise in social media, films and modern entertainments, the importance of delving deeper into Handel’s life, giving audiences a much fuller picture and presenting to the listener as much historical background as possible of Handel and his contemporaries, becomes even more significant. CD recordings and booklet notes demonstrate a commitment to capturing the beauty of this exceptional music and to extend its journey beyond the concert hall.

At London Early Opera, I am working on our 8th disc in an exciting new and ongoing Handel CD series with Signum Records which includes much unrecorded and newly edited music, with extensive CD booklets to give the listener a fuller historical picture. The actual process of making a CD recording takes months and even years: the major part of the work will have already been done before stepping into the recording venue. It takes me time to plan a disc and create a concept, choose repertoire, and find funding – which today is often the sole responsibility of the artist or organisation. Sourcing the original music manuscripts from libraries and collections, organising inter-library loans, researching and editing music, creating orchestral and vocal parts, folders and scores, compiling translations and the synopsis, engaging with other musicologists and historians, are all parts of this journey. The great joy is seeing it all come together.

Finding musicians and singers is largely through recommendations, listening and auditioning if necessary: it is vital that the team works together as a unit. We have a pool of very talented baroque musicians and singers – some of whom I have coached since I was at the Royal College of Music – and it is a joy working with them now professionally and see them making their mark on the musical platform. Coaching singers, writing ornaments and cadenzas, working on instrumental parts, rehearsals and performances are more golden threads in this huge and beautiful musical tapestry.

We have many glorious churches and recording venues to choose from and hear the freshness of natural acoustics, with the very different sounds reverberating off wood and marble and adding to the blend of the voices and the orchestra. Our talented producer keeps the show on the road; our sound engineers from Floating Earth (with Signum Records) set up their state-of-the-art microphones and technical equipment, and check sound levels to complement our musicians and repertoire, capturing our distinctively energetic and focused sound-world with a finesse that presents the audience with a great listening perspective.
When hiring different keyboard instruments, it is important for me to understand the way the keys feel and respond to personal touch and how to perform trills, play octaves, chords, scalic passages on these specific instruments, as well as other practicalities such as knowing how to deal with sticking keys in damp churches and making temperaments and pitch settle. As Handel’s music should be directed from the harpsichord, body and eye gestures are vital – the hands must be kept down on the keyboard. Continuo playing and score reading using different clefs takes a few years to learn thoroughly in order to create a fluent and distinct playing style and develop signature moves whilst leading, shaping and giving colour to the orchestra. Continuo playing can be played differently every time: the extent of improvisation, chord positioning and ornaments needs to be considered if a repeat is required for the recording process. A blend of artistic freedom, creativity and absolute focus is vital.

Various issues rear their heads: strings breaking, singers being ill, building work outside, kerfuffle at school break times, flight paths, ice thawing and cracking in the winter, squirrels on the roof in the autumn, lawn mowing in the spring and summers, church crèche and groups arriving in the holidays. But the show must go on!

The musical performance during the recording is critical and helps post-production when the producer makes the edits to be checked through together afterwards. Once these edits have been approved, the album needs to be mastered – similar to an art conservator adding the final coat of varnish to the painting. We also write extensive CD booklets and provide artwork for the pleasure of our listeners to enhance the story and give a historical outline of relevant events, such as the introductory essay written by David E. Coke (co-author of Vauxhall Gardens: A History, published by Yale University Press) for our CD Handel at Vauxhall.

After performing Handel’s music for many years, I have begun to develop a more innate and real feeling for his music and an understanding of his phrases, style and harmonic patterns. As a Handel specialist, it is wonderful to recognise tunes he has reused from other works, quite often from his Italian years, giving the music a sense of belonging and growth. We experience what feels right and sits under the fingers well for the harpsichord or is comfortable vocally. By recording Handel’s works for the voice, we can see the mastery of his writing for each individual singer, such as the pathos of Cuzzoni and the coloratura of Faustina as featured on our latest album Handel’s Queens, but also how these techniques developed as he nurtured and taught his singers, enhancing their performances. How accurately, in terms of direct imitation, this blend of uniqueness and universality of his singers can be recaptured in a modern performance is unknowable, but it is important to record this special repertoire of Handel and his contemporaries to keep for future generations.

Creating London Early Opera recordings such as Handel in Italy, Handel in Ireland, Handel at Vauxhall and Handel’s Queens has been a joyful experience: especially working on pieces which have not been recorded before and revelling in the process of finding arias, editing them from scratch and following their development through to hearing them played on Apple Music. London Early Opera’s ongoing Handel Travel CD series captures musical snapshots of moments in Handel’s illustrious career. Other future projects include Handel’s pasticcio opera Caio Fabricio HWV A9.

Releasing a baroque album is a task that requires determination for all involved. London Early Opera adheres to exceptionally high standards, taking on challenging CD projects which are also a huge amount of fun. We invite Handel devotees to get in touch with us: come along, be a part of the action and experience a recording for yourself!

Bridget Cunningham is Artistic Director of London Early Opera.