Photograph: Sisi Burn BBC
Where does the strength of Allan Clayton’s tenor lie? Is it, like the biblical Samson, in his hair? Handel wrote the title role of his 1743 oratorio for his favourite tenor, John Beard, and it was a glorious showcase for classical music’s modern-day Mr Beard in the Academy of Ancient Music’s annual Prom.
Clayton seemed able to defy the Albert Hall’s tricksy acoustics, which often foxes baroque music and which indeed threw challenges at Laurence Cummings’s ensemble, further muddying a slightly messy-sounding overture. Samson’s first aria laments his blindness, and Milton’s words for this are especially moving, written by a poet who knew the pain of losing one’s sight, as Handel eventually would, too; the glow of Clayton’s voice and the contrasts he shaped here were arresting. But even these were outdone by the hushed introspection he brought to his final aria. Did the orchestra quite share Clayton’s held-breath vision here? They were perhaps a little too present; elsewhere, though, they were equal partners in the drama, with Cummings, standing at the harpsichord, keeping things going at a pace that made even this static story feel forward-moving.
