Dunedin Consort - Handel: Samson - The Scotsman

If you don’t know Handel’s Samson, you will know its most famous aria, Let the Bright Seraphim. Sung thrillingly by soprano Mary Bevan in this impressive new Dunedin recording, it is a crowning delight of Handel’s three-act oratorio. But it’s just three minutes’ worth of an otherwise riveting account of the entire work, and one – this is the fascinating bit – that comes with different listening options. There’s the physical CD featuring the expanded choral forces of the Dunedin Consort plus the refreshing youth of the Tiffin Boys’ Choir or you can download a more typical Dunedin version featuring Dunedin members only as the chorus. Either way, this is another John Butt spectacular, the ensemble’s effervescent director eliciting a performance that captures the emotion of Handel’s exceptional writing: the eloquent forcefulness of Joshua Ellicot’s Samson, Sophie Bevan’s absorbing Dalila, and other characterful soloists besides. Ken Walton