HALLELUJAH! IT’S GAGA
Grammy-nominated choir leader describes brush with fame monster
Noel Edison didn’t expect to rub shoulders with Lady Gaga when he attended the Grammy Awards for the first time, but the chorus master at the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir couldn’t resist the opportunity when it arose.
At the glitzy celebration for the 2010 awards in Los Angeles, Edison found himself standing near the Bad Romance singer. So he stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
“(I) said, ‘Look, I want to congratulate you — I think you’ve got a unique sound and a unique approach to this modern-day popular culture,’” he says.
“We had a nice chat with her big thugs standing around. We had a little vodka together, so that was fun.”
Edison didn’t win the Grammy that year, but he’ll have another chance Sunday as he vies for best choral performance with his choir and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
The Toronto performers share a nomination with British conductor Andrew Davis for his daring take on Handel’s Messiah, which throws in new elements that elevate the composition’s theatrical flair.
Edison said he was intrigued by the changes Davis brought to his version of the 1741 biblical epic, known through generations for its rousing Hallelujah! crescendo.
“He brought it into a modern setting with a lot more instruments,” Edison says. “He thickens it up, makes it bigger and more opulent in its colouring.”
Recorded at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall in December 2015, the project was a risky proposition when Davis envisioned it years earlier, the conductor said. He felt purists might balk at his decision to add instruments like the English horn, oboe and piccolo. Even punching up the presence of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir could be seen as taboo.
But now that he holds his third Grammy nomination, Davis feels a sense of accomplishment in finding new grandiosity within the ageold baroque composition.
“People (at the Grammys) have recognized, I think, that it’s not some gimmicky attempt to dress the piece up in colours that aren’t appropriate,” Davis says. “I’ve introduced, in a way, a bit of a sense of fantasy.”
Before he recorded the album, Davis tinkered with the elements of his version, adding percussion he later restrained. By the time he stepped onto the Toronto stage for the five performances that comprise the album version, his Messiah was more focused in shape.
“What I’ve done is perhaps underscore some of the drama in the piece,” he says.
Meanwhile, Edison used a chorus of more than 100 professional singers that strengthened his regular core of 20 choir members. He said recording in Toronto seemed especially appropriate, since the city has an unusual fascination with Messiah.
“I can’t to this day quite figure out why it’s got such popularity in Toronto,” Edison says. “The performances that go on (here) … there are hundreds of them.”
Neither Davis nor Edison will be in New York to claim their Grammy, if they win. They have packed schedules that put them on both sides of the pond — Davis in a Manchester, England, recording studio and Edison performing with his choir.
“I don’t live my life for these recognitions,” Edison says. “I just do my job, do the best that I can, and if somebody likes it — great. It’s that good old Canadian ‘thank you.’”