Canterbury Voices offers great, grand ‘Messiah’
G.F. Handel, a German master of the Baroque, composed his “Messiah” in 1741 as an oratorio (singing of prayer) designed for a concert hall.
In the 19th century, larger choruses and orchestras became common, and in the 1950s, Eugene Goossens and Sir Thomas Beecham orchestrated and recorded a definitive ‘large orchestra’ version of “Messiah.”
Canterbury Voices, taking advantage of the outstanding Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the acoustic space of the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre at the Civic Center, revived the Goossens/Beecham version last Sunday evening. It was a beautifully performed and directed performance of an extraordinary musical event.
Canterbury artistic director and conductor Randi Von Ellefson was at the baton for the performance. Oklahoma City is fortunate to have a solid, artistically proficient orchestra, and their performances were expert and supportive of the voices. The Overture and Pastoral Symphony — both entirely instrumental — were expressive and musically detailed.
The four soloists were all strong dramatic voices; they easily and gracefully brought Handel’s settings alive and delivered the texts — all from the early version of the King James translation — with such clarity that the libretto in the program was all but unnecessary.
Tenor Steven Sanders opened the program with a text from Isaiah; his rich delivery flowed over the words of the recitative and lifted the aria into the air of the concert hall. Both tenor arias were strong and robustly sung.
Jordan Andrews sang the bass arias with great confidence and power.
His voice is young and strong, reaching depths of expression that match the sonorous melodies of the bass. His two arias bookend the dramatic arc, asking “Who shall abide?” leading to “The trumpet shall sound.”
Mezzo-soprano April Golliver-Mohiuddin sang the alto arias with scrupulous fidelity and fluidity. She perfectly blended exactness of diction with musicality.
Handel’s alto arias underscore the narrative; whether the cry to stand up and sing good news or the description of a man “despised and acquainted with grief,” these arias are the voice of humanity, and Golliver-Mohiuddin represented well.
Soprano Autumn West delivered the soprano arias with extraordinary detail and elevation. Her voice is ideal for this material; the clarity of delivery and precision of pitch and diction supported the spiraling melodies that Handel gives to the soprano in this oratorio. Both are messages of hope and courage; West sang confident optimism into the room with her performance.
The necessary and sufficient cause for Handel’s “Messiah” is a great chorus. Canterbury Voices is such a chorus. Baroque music demands extreme precision; there are many runs and ornaments that must be sung as if with one voice. Getting 20-plus sopranos to sing the same group of eighth notes in exact synchrony is an achievement shared between the chorus and the conductor; multiply that by the number of parts, the need to match dynamics, and then add musicality and artistry.
This overwhelming task did not in any way overwhelm the singers of Canterbury Voices, nor their accomplished conductor. Von Ellefson has brought this very large group of voices in to a blended unity in which all can take pride.