all december, The Messiah it is almost inescapable in New York City's churches and concert halls. To explore some of the many options available to Christmas Handelians, I visited four of the city's best-known versions and found them to be markedly different but often deeply satisfying in their own way of this timeless masterpiece.
Perhaps it is surprising that Handel's The Messiah it has become as closely associated with Christmas as it is most appropriately done with Easter. Although the First Part it does involving the Nativity, the work's most famous number—the “Hallelujah Song”—closes the second part and celebrates Christ's resurrection. But at Easter, one is likely to meet Bach St. Matthew Passion, another baroque sanctuary.
As Handel's Italian operas began to fall out of favor in London in the 1730s, the German-born composer turned more to English-language oratorios, chorales on religious themes. Handel created a good number of them, however The Messiah it is markedly different from the others. Saul or Theodora, for example, musical dramas have actors who participate as they would in an opera. But the soloists come in the messiah, Bible quotes from the King James Version, compiled by Charles Jennens, do not depict individuals but instead speak of the events of Christ's life and death. This unusual presentation allowed Handel to sing his work after the 1742 Dublin premiere, and he often changed the arias and recitatives based on the soloists present at the time. Finally, a standard or inferior version is adopted, and i The MessiahI heard it played in St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, Trinity Church, David Geffen Hall and Carnegie Hall have been consistent in awarding solos.
Otherwise, the four varied greatly in the types of instruments used, and, more importantly, in the size and composition of their choruses. St. Thomas and Trinity operated the instrumental ensembles of the period: New York Baroque Incorporated and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, respectively. Although the number of orchestra members remained roughly the same among the four orchestras, these two used instruments similar to those of Handel's time which were played with more bite and color than the members of the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Oratorio Society of New York modern strings, brass . The use of “historically informed practice” (HIP) methods in St. Thomas and Trinity also complement the church's warm, energetic feel.
The composition of the four choruses had the most striking differences between the choruses. St. Thomas is known around the world for his adherence to the Anglican tradition and his Boys and Men's Choir. Decorated in red dresses, twenty-one boy sopranos joined by thirteen adult altos, tenors and basses will produce, under the direction of Jeremy Filsell, a unique unique sound. Although they usually get along, the boys proved a major obstacle to my enjoyment of Filsell's wonderful interpretation. Though outnumbered, together they produced a soft, sometimes understated sound in many of Handel's difficult choruses. In comparison, Trinity's group of eight senior female sopranos under the powerful leadership of Dame Jane Glover soared admirably, although their avoidance of vibrato (a typical HIP technique) might sound strange to those unaccustomed to “straight tone.”
Forty straight members of Musica Sacra joined the NY Phil in an organized way though The Messiah thanks to Ton Koopman's uncertain opinion of the score. The texture of the choir was most evident in Geffen's clean acoustic, which also emphasized the strong but over-homogenized sound of the modern instrumental orchestra. Ken Tritle, who prepared the Musica Sacra chorus, was also conductor of OSNY's Carnegie Hall presentation where he commanded its powerful chorus of nearly one hundred and eighty voices! Despite their number, in the messiah'in the first stage, they released a soft sound, more widespread than the twenty-sixth Trinity! But in the drama that followed, The Passion and Crucifixion of Christ, they came to life and grew in unity and power as they approached “Hallelujah,” which elicited the expected burst of applause from the Geffen crowd that stood up in obedience—as did all four audience members—for. that's a sensational number. Notable, too, was the precision of the OSNY large ensemble, which devotedly executed many of the challenging passages of Handel's music.
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Heavy coloratura for bass arias in The Messiah he almost beat several soloists. David Soar of St. Thomas, a late Wagnerian veteran, labored through his music, sounding relaxed in his finale “The Trumpet is Sounding.” At the NY Phil, baroque master Klaus Mertens lowered his voice with some success to negotiate clusters of dark notes, but OSNY's Joseph Parrish excelled, his energetic bass-baritone handling his music with subtlety and logical bite. Trinity's unique solution The MessiahAssigning solos to each member of the chorus, a practice that caused some unevenness but brought a moving warmth to the evening. Among its bass members, Steven Hrycelak and Enrico Lagasca stand out individually.
Trinity's Tenor Andrew Fuchs began playing with the stylish “All the valleys”, a stark contrast to the impressively worn-out Rufus Müller who cuts through that opening. For the rest of his music, the intensity of Müller's reception brought back memories of his most famous Evangelist in Jonathan Miller's historic group stage. St. Matthew Passion. Joshua Blue's operatic repertoire includes works by Verdi and Puccini which may explain his unusually muscular approach to OSNY's Handel. However, he showed admirable ease in the more detailed pages of his music. In the NY Phil, Kieran White's bright tenor was taxed by some of the most striking moments in Part Two, but his clear delivery and sincere engagement made him stand out among Koopman's heavy quartet.
The four concerts divided Handel's alto music between women and men. Emily Marvosh of St. Thomas often sounded disappointingly thin, but his charming way with these lyrics made “He Was Despicable” very touching. Trinity introduced both mezzos and countertenors with the former group winning the laurels. Koopman brought with him Dutch partner Maarten Engeltjes, whose melodious instrument left a lasting impression, while Tritle opposed Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, perhaps the best American partner, whose strong and seamless voice is different from many in his vocal category. However, Cohen sounded less than normal at Carnegie Hall; alone of all the soloists I have heard, he referred deeply and often to his points and at times sounded uncertain. Yet his inner music and his heated voice still underpin many of Handel's alto arias.
Nola Richardson, OSNY's soprano, often performs 18th-century music, but her thin, raspy voice seemed strangely out of place for much of the evening. However, he was transformed in Part Three, where his words “I know there is my savior” and “If God is with us” were really lovely. Koopman's Maya Kherani, too, was uneven, beautiful phrases alternating with harsh high ornamentation, and in the end had little effect. In St. Thomas, Emily Donato surprised by continuing with a simple version of the rarely heard elan “Have a lot of fun.” He teamed up well with Marvosh in “He will tend his flock.” But one very good solo of mine The Messiah Marathon was Elisse Albian's tribute “I know my savior lives” to Trinity: just heaven sent.
Only OSNY made The Messiah in all, it gives Cohen and Blue one chance to sing “O death, where is thy sting,” when Carnegie Hall staff move silently to remove an audience member at the front of the line who has passed out. Koopman made some strange cuts: mysteriously skipping “His Yoke is Easy” at the end of Part One and the tenor's aria just before “Hallelujah.” Both St. Thomas and the Trinity removed several important numbers from the Third Act, fearing that some of the crowd might find it counterproductive after “Hallelujah.” In fact, Tritle chastises audience members he sees running away before Act Three begins.
In 2024 The Messiah The Palm must go to Dame Jane, whose untiring leadership of her troupe of the Trinity (she's 75!) made Handel's usual work sound fresh and new with her dynamic reading that brought out the best in her magnificent orchestra and chorus. Trinity's proximity to 650 seats, which is less than one-quarter the capacity of Carnegie Hall—added to its charm even though its open seating can be a challenge during the nearly three-hour performance.
But each of these conditions works for a long time The Messiah traditions—some dating back over a century—ensure that their sellout audiences will be entertained and moved by Handel's oratorio for the first time—or for the twentieth!
