‘Tis the season for Messiahs, Hallelujah, Hall-e-lu-jah! Many choirs attempt to sing Handel’s great work at Christmas although its earliest performances (in both Dublin and London) were closer to Easter.
Melbourne embraces the work, with many in the audience having recently enjoyed Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra’s performance under the direction of Andrew Wailes, but also eagerly securing seats to hear the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in one of their annual performances of the oratorio.
This is because Messiah satisfies all the criteria of an enduring choral work: a familiar story, whose various moods inform music of great contrasts; tuneful and harmonic music, with thrilling trumpets; above all, a really big sing.
The consciousness of history means the audience is unlikely to be faced with an uncomfortably modern interpretation; the greatest decision is whether to pare back to the ‘authentic’ Baroque, or allow the fuller orchestral sound of a later period. Guest conductor Bernard Labadie opted for the latter, while respecting the soloists’ choice of style.
It might have had purists tearing their horsehair wigs to shreds … but it worked. A seat in the middle of row E allowed me an unusually intimate view of each soloist’s reaction, not just to his or her own solos, but also to the chorus work and the unfolding of the story.
Soprano Karina Gauvin has won awards for her recordings of Handel with fellow-Canadian Labadie, and so it was no surprise that she opted for a lighter Baroque sound. Her voice had the sweetness needed for arias like How beautiful are the feet. But I know that my redeemer liveth called for the conviction that a stronger approach would have lent to the words.
Countertenor Robin Blaze, by contrast, seemed caught up in the drama and power of the text, whether he was singing or not. His own contributions were beautifully ornamented and finely judged, as in He was despised. Although I was not really in a position to judge, Blaze’s voice appeared to have the strength to carry to the far reaches of Hamer Hall, quite a feat for a countertenor.
Tenor Ian Bostridge and baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes rounded off the fine line-up of soloists. Bostridge possesses that somewhat rare quality: a tenor voice with power as well as sweetness, infused with depth of feeling. The first to sing after the opening ‘Sinfony’, Bostridge’s Comfort ye/Every valley set the scene for what was to be a first-class performance of this well-known work. Tahu Rhodes impressed by stepping out of the ‘leading man’ persona he carries on the opera and musical stage to be simply a bearer of news and prophecy, as in Thus saith the Lord.
The extraordinary strength of Tahu Rhodes’ voice was heard in For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and the vocal gymnastics of Why do the nations? were simply thrilling. That aria, Geoffrey Payne’s trumpet, and the outstanding performance of the MSO were what I carried away from this year’s Messiah.
May it continue to be a fixture in Melbourne’s Christmas celebrations.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Handel’s Messiah
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Bernard Labadie – conductor
Karina Gauvin – soprano
Robin Blaze – counter-tenor
Ian Bostridge – tenor
Teddy Tahu Rhodes – bass-baritone
Robert Blackwood Hall
14 December
Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
15 – 16 December
