A concert that will live long in the memory of music-lovers
Messiah
Usher Hall, Edinburgh Keith Bruce
*****
THE Nativity sequence of Handel’s Messiah that ends Part One, and is the excuse for the work’s performance at this time of the year, can often seem to be the lightest music of its three hours.
In this reading by conductor Jane Glover – with soloists soprano Gemma Summerfield and counter-tenor Rory Mccleery – it was much more profound.
Glover’s preceding Pastoral Symphony was slower and longer than is now common, and, exquisitely played by the strings, led by Greg Lawson, it set the scene for the mix of Gospel and Old Testament texts that follow.
If Ferrier-award winner Summerfield was the star turn, the rest of the singers on stage were also on very fine form. Mccleery has been astonishingly busy in the past few weeks, with the Dunedin Consort, and his own Marian Consort, but his voice still had real presence and weight in the hall. Tenor William Wallace’s distinctive phrasing and tone was matched to precision pitch, and if bass Trevor Bowes’s thick vowel sounds were an acquired taste he was more than up to Glover’s high speed Why Do The Nations? towards the end of Part Two.
Using neither a baton or a score, the conductor is a Handel expert whose latest book is on the composer’s London years, and Edinburgh Royal Choral Union responded eagerly to her direction, with some fine quieter singing, consistent internal balance of the sections, and notable coherence in the sopranos, whose ensemble was acknowledged by Summerfield as well.
The run of choruses at the start of Part Two were especially revealing, with a much less staccato approach to All We Like Sheep than is fashionable (and which has the unfortunate effect of stressing the last word of the phrase) making He Trusted In God, which follows a short tenor Recitative, much more emphatic in its absolutely necessary use of that approach. Details such as those made the 133rd annual New Year Messiah one that will stand out in this choir’s illustrious history.
Royal Scottish National Orchestra: Handel’s Messiah
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Miranda Heggie
****
HERALDING the arrival of 2020, the RSNO saw in the New Year in time- honoured tradition, with their annual Glasgow performance of Handel’s Messiah. Under the baton of baroque expert Nicholas Mcgegan, the orchestra opened with a full and rounded tone.
Mcgegan fully exploited the differing colours in Handel’s score, as the orchestra played with stark differences in mood. From refined poise in the recitative sections, to a joyful rambunctiousness for the chorus passages, the orchestra brought a wide and varied palette to the piece.
The chorus, too, wonderfully demonstrated the varying characteristics of the music. From light and spritely in the first part, to strong and powerful for the opening of the second, they compellingly communicated the piece, always with near-perfect diction.
Though many distinct aspects were heard throughout the performance, these were bound together by a sense of joviality and invigorating energy, only amplified by the audience rising to their feet to join in for the Hallelujah Chorus.
The quartet of vocal soloists were each a joy. Tenor Nicholas Mulroy sang the opening recitative and aria with a light yet full tone, and Baritone William Berger had a potent voice and arresting presence, most notably heard in the aria Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage Together.
Mezzo soprano Diana Moore sang with a rich, berry-hued tone, and her duet with soprano Rowan Pierce, He Shall Feed His Flock was beautifully sung by both. Pierce’s ornamentation was exquisite here, her supple, sparkling soprano buoying the music.