You can never be right for all time.

Nicholas McGegan on Handel

James Nicholas McGegan’’ (born 14 January 1950 in England) is a British conductor and early
music expert who recorded almost 20 of Handel’s operas from a total of 39 1. He was the artistic
director of the famous music festival from Germany ‘’The Göttingen Festival’’ for 20 years (1993-
1996)2. At this festival, after Handel's operas began to be performed on stage, as early as 1920,
they began to regain popularity and since the Second World War, the ‘’Handelian’’ repertoire
performed in concert halls has grown exponentially3. Unfortunately, a small proportion of
Handel's music was performed in the 19th century and usually consisted only a little of his music
like ‘’Messiah’’, ‘’Samson’’, ‘’Israel in Egypt’’ and ‘’Judas Maccabeus’’ played with increasingly
gargantuan choruses and orchestras, leaving behind other extraordinary pieces like
‘’Moderato’’, ‘’Giulio Cesare’’, ‘’Jephtha’’, ‘’Orlando’’ and ‘’L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato’’
to be performed apart by the scholars and early music enthusiasts4. But the revival of Handel's
repertoire in concerts has raised several problems.
In this essay I will discuss the issues that McGegan encountered in his journey to record
Handel's extraordinary oratorios. One of the problems that Nicholas McGegan confronted is
that certain works by a composer that are not often performed on stage might become
forgotten because is assumed that they present a piece with less quality compared to the one
that is performed5. I consider that instrumentalist should chose to play pieces that are less
performed and try to bring something new, not to present a set performance pieces list which
repeats in every concert. I say so because this makes the performer to pass over his safe-zone
and forces him to find a solution to make a certain piece interesting for the audience. I always
want to learn pieces that are less performed so I have less references on YouTube from great
maestros that performed thar particular piece and I can create a sincere meaning to the piece.
This often forces me to think like the composer. I try to understand the meaning before each
note that the composer wrote. I think this examination makes the differences between artists
performances. I often ask myself what are the feelings that the music expresses and I always
come with the immediate solution that the emotions from the music are subjective, which
points me to create a unique story in my music. I believe that we are responsible, as a
1
https://www.nicholasmcgegan.com/about
2
Ibid
3
Bernard D. Sherman, Inside Early Music: Conversations with Performers, You Can Never Be Right for All Time:
Nicholas McGegan on Handel (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), page 243.
4
Ibid
5
Ibid, page 244.
performer, to present the music in such a way that the audience gets a spark in their
imagination which gives birth to this feeling of finding a meaning in the music.
Another point that McGegan is making is that ‘’da capo aria’’ from the Baroque convention
represents the repeat of another section but in Handel’s music, represents the freedom of the
singer to present their precision and talent in creating ornaments.6 The use of countertenors
instead of castreti is perceive by some people as a deceptive solution. Handel was using females
to play the castreti role if the singer was not available. The reason behind this is that the women
and castreti voice are using both the chest and head register compared to countertenor who
uses only the head voice.7
Handel’s singers presented their skills and exposed a sincere playing and were not in the
Anglican style, as critics says.8 I don’t agree with this statement because I think that no matter
how much we want to reproduce the music exactly as it was sung at that time, we will never be
able to reach the truth, and if we manage to reproduce the music having as reference points the
society of that time, the musical rules and the manners, it will result a theory that might consist
guessed truth and will certainly have wrong prejudices because of our subjective perception. At
the same time, I believe that this search for the closest interpretation to the early music style
puts a barrier to the artist's creativity. I'm not saying that the artist is allowed to do what he
wants in the score, but I think that if the artist tries to create a narrative line in the music that
he interprets and have as pillars the notation from the score, he will definitely create his sincere
personality in the music, which is what Handel wanted for his singers9. On the other hand, it is
important to have an idea of how the music was performed in that period of time. For example,
the technique that the teacher Domenica Corri used in the late 18th century of having more
breath marks for much shorter phrases compared to modern breathing executed after long
phrases.10 As McGegan says in this article, it is important to have improvisation classes to
develop the instrumentalist creativity and precision on improvisation.11
After McGegan was asked if he uses the ornaments noted by Handel, he revealed that he always
asks his singers if they can perform those ornaments and is never forcing them to copy the
ornaments but actually implement the idea of having as reference Handel's ornaments and
come up with their own version that will suite them.12 This adds another point to the finding of

6
Ibid
7
Ibid
8
Ibid
9
Ibid, page 245.
10
Ibid
11
Ibid, page246.
12
Ibid, page 247.
a unique and personal version of the score in order to find a original sound and present great
personality in the music.
McGegan addresses the problem and differences of performing in the studio and in front of an
audience, stating that when playing in front of an audience it will ‘’inspire you to do your best’’
compered to playing in the studio which he says that for him is almost like faking the
emotions.13 I disagree with this idea. I consider is more magical to perform alone. I say so
because when you are alone you can concentrate and discover even more magical meanings in
the music. I think that when you perform on stage you are no longer completely focused on the
music you are performing because you are overwhelmed by the desire to delight the audience.
Another interesting point which McGegan is making (and this will be the last one that I will
address in this essay because I know I have to many words and I know I will get penalized but
there are to many things that are worth addressing) is that he discovered that his best takes
were realized almost like a performance and he was accumulating energy and tension from the
previous pieces14. I believe this information is very important because this is the way we, as
performers, need to choose the repertoire of a concert. We need to first practice the pieces and
give them a personal meaning and then think of the order of the pieces is such a manner that
the public might feel emotions and create the best experience.
In conclusion, as the title suggest and as McGegan says, ‘’The great thing about performance is
that you can never be right for all time’’15.

13
Ibid, page 249.
14
Ibid, page 250.
15
Ibid, page 252.