The TSO adds complex flavours to Handel’s ‘Messiah,’
Holiday classic gets a welcome overhaul using only racialized soloists
George Frideric Handel’s 1741 oratorio “Messiah” is synonymous with tradition: Its story is pulled from the King James Bible; it’s a part of holiday rituals and gatherings.
And it’s a revered piece in the classical world — certainly in Toronto, as the annual Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance is a huge draw for audiences.
Yet “Messiah” hasn’t been stagnant throughout history; this centuries-old work is in a constant state of reinvention and reinterpretation.
Which brings us to 2020, when a pandemic, technology, and a nationwide reckoning with BIPOC representation and accessibility demanded a vastly different version of this holiday classic; it even required a new name.
Against the Grain Theatre, in partnership with the TSO, is presenting “Messiah/Complex,” co-directed by Against the Grain’s artistic director, Joel Ivany, and Reneltta Arluk, the director of Indigenous arts at the Banff Centre, conducted by Johannes Debus.
It will be available to stream online free from Sunday to Jan. 7.
Performed by the TSO and cast with 12 Canadian soloists and four choirs from every province and territory, the 70minute film features short films spanning the entire country.
It also translates songs into languages of the performer’s choice: Arabic, Dene, English, French, Inuktitut and Southern Tutchone.
“Plays get done over and over, and some people feel more connected to some iterations than others. I think it’s pretty honest to say that there are going to be more Indigenous and BIPOC people watching this version of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ than any other version that Canada has done,” said Arluk.
“I feel like this is the more Canadian version of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ than any Handel’s ‘Messiah’ that has been done.”
Before the pandemic, Against the Grain planned to remount its 2015 “Messiah,” but the realities of not only physical distancing but “vocal distancing” set in, as did larger discussions around Black Lives Matter and Indigenous reconciliation.
“There was this big awakening in the classical music world. Are we doing enough? On Instagram there’s a handle @operaisracist … We dedicated ourselves to become a company of change,” said Ivany.
The choice to cast every soloist as a BIPOC performer raised considerations around squaring the language, subject and origins of “Messiah” with the individuals being asked to sing it, which is when Arluk joined as co-director. She and Ivany helped the soloists use their chosen songs, language and unique approach to their film to tell personal stories.
Tenor Spencer Britten explores his connection to the LGBTQ community in Vancouver with “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted.” Baritone Elliot Madore sings “The Trumpet Shall Sound” while skating on a hockey rink in Ontario.
For soloist Deanth a Edmunds, born and raised in Newfoundland and known as Canada’s only Inuk professional classical singer, the song “How Beautiful Are the Feet” was a chance to spread the fact that classical music has been an Inuk tradition for hundreds of years, tied to her father’s upbringing in Labrador.
The video brought her to Petty Harbour, which reminded her of Labrador and offered a view of the ocean, which represented how music has travelled and been interpreted by Inuit throughout history.
“It made me think of the fact that the Inuit have been in this part of the world, on the north coast of Labrador for, what, 10,000 years,” she said.
Soloist Leel a Gilda y also translated her song, “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth,” into her native language, Dene ke, with the help of her mother and aunties in the Northwest Territories. Her interpretation, shot outside Yellowknife, tells the story of joining the land, water and Creator after death.
“The ideas that I tried to capture were that I know my Creator lives in the land, in the water, in the air, on the earth. And when I die, I know that my spirit will be with my Creator and I’ll be happy.”
Given the traumatic history of residential schools in Canada, both Ivany and Arlu k say they’ve heard questions around the ethics of asking Indigenous artists to respond to a Christian story. But to Arluk, thinking that they haven’t done so before is the real misunderstanding.
“My involvement wasn’t to feel conflicted with it, my involvement was, all right, let’s change it, let’s adapt it, let’s rejuvenate it … (Indigenous performers) actually deepen the history by claiming the music because their knowledge has been here a lot longer than Christian knowledge,” said Arluk.
“Messiah/Complex” is, indeed, a complication of the original text. But it also feels utterly borne out of the year 2020, and all of its own complications and, let’s face it, hardships.
“I think there’s a great opportunity for (the films) to have a longevity, even when we can gather again,” said Arluk . “When we look back, it would be nice to see some of these incredibly positive things that came out of realizing what is important.”