‘PRINCE OF MESSIAHS’ LENDS HAND TO HANDEL
Conductor Ivars Taurins has long relationship with holiday tradition
Whether or not it’s what George Frideric Handel intended, his 1742 masterwork Messiah has become an integral part of the holiday music scene throughout the English-speaking world. This raises questions about how such ubiquity affects our hearing of Handel’s explicitly Christian saga, and the background work demanded to mount a contemporary production.
Several Messiahs are on offer in Metro Vancouver this season, including the Pacific Spirit Choir on Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. in Abbotsford, several Messiah in the Valley shows with the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra from Dec. 12-15 and a grand Orpheum performance by Leslie Dala and the Vancouver Bach Choir on Dec. 14.
But before any of those resound, Early Music Vancouver plans three performances that include its adjunct ensemble the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Vancouver Cantata Singers, plus guest soloists, all led by Ivars Taurins, long a stalwart of Toronto’s early music orchestra Tafelmusik.
Obviously Taurins — billed by EMV as the “Prince of Messiahs” — is currently in the very busiest part of his season.
Taurins’s first crack at conducting Messiah was with Tafelmusik in 1980, just a year after the orchestra was conceived, using a pickup choir. The following year the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir was founded, and Taurins has been associated with the seasonal Messiah tradition ever after.
“I’m kind of black sheep in the conducting world,” Taurins admits. “I’ve got one foot in the orchestral camp and one foot in the choral camp, plus I’m a violist and an early music specialist.”
This gives him a unique perspective when it comes to Messiah, which presents a plethora of problems for any conductor either inspired or obliged to present the seasonal treat.
Taurins takes an informed view of the big picture: “Only in the 20th century have we created difficulties in performing Messiah.”
Length can be a major issue, said Taurins.
“Over the decades the musical forces have gotten larger and larger, which inevitably slows down the tempo. So at least some in the audience are always going to be looking at their watches, wondering how the babysitter is doing.”
That notwithstanding, Taurins celebrates the inherent architecture of Handel’s work and its wonderfully effective grand plan. Then there’s the issue of the score itself.
“There is, in fact, no definitive version of the work,” Taurins asserts. “That’s not how Baroque composers worked. It’s important to remember Handel was primarily
an opera composer, and Messiah is really a marvellous extension of this talent. Handel was a total pragmatist who rewrote every performance during his lifetime to suit different voices. So I tailor each performance for certain voices — for example, in Vancouver I’m changing the counter-tenor into a mezzo soprano.”
Using alternate versions keeps the work alive and ever changing.
But even more germane than musicological issues is the central question: Why should a work created within a specifically 18th century British Protestant tradition have such multicultural significance today?
For Taurins, the power and majesty of Handel’s music conveys ideas that resonate in our troubled 21st century.
“For example, he sets the text ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.’ You can’t help but think of our current climate crisis, and people who refuse to listen to the scientific community,” said Taurins.
“My personal slant on why such a specifically Christian piece is still relevant is that its message is universal peace and love for all people. Handel is able to cross all cultural boundaries with a narrative of moving from ignorance to knowledge, from despair to hope. Messiah is a wonderfully moving cathartic experience no matter what you happen to believe.”
Handel was a total pragmatist who rewrote every performance ... to suit different voices. So I tailor each performance for certain voices.