Page 262 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

L’Enfance du Christ remains a curious work. It starts, with little preamble, with Herod’s troubled dream and
the advice he seeks from the soothsayers, resulting in his edict for all new-born to be put to the sword. Only
then do we meet Mary, Joseph and Jesus, warned by the unseen Angels to leave. The second part (here after
the interval) – ‘The Flight into Egypt’ – opens with that original card-game ditty, transformed into the lilting
‘Shepherd’s Farewell’ prefacing the Holy Family’s arduous escape to Egypt. It functions as a short pivotal
centrepiece (ending at a welcome oasis) between the larger outer parts. The third – ‘The Arrival at Saïs’ –
starts in desperation in the face of racism (Romans and Egyptians refusing the escapees shelter) but ends in
beneficence as the Ishmaelite (like Joseph, a carpenter) and his relatives take the Holy Family in and help
bring Jesus up.

Joining Boulianne’s radiant Mary, the male soloists all played dual roles. Allan Clayton added the small part
of the Centurion in the first part to his Narrator; Neal Davies – Janus-like – turned from the dark side
(Herod) to the kind-hearted Father of the Ishmaelite House; and Roderick Williams added Polydorus to his
assumption of Joseph. Pascal’s direction gave them space and support to give their best. The combined
forces of the Britten Sinfonia Voices and Genesis Sixteen (the latter of up-and-coming singers attached to
Harry Christophers’s The Sixteen) were equally expressive.
Integral to success was the Hallé, revelling in Berlioz’s characterful orchestral sections. This was a subtle
though wholly appropriate and convincing presentation.

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