David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Orchestra (Seat BB19, $40.)
Program
Messiah (1741)
by Handel (1685-1759).
Artists
Lauren Snoufer, soprano; Anthony Roth Costanzo,
countertenor; Andrew Staples, tenor; Neal Davies, bass-baritone.
Westminister Symphonic Choir, Joe Miller, director.
Continuo: Carter Brey, cello; Max Zeugner, bass; Thomas,
trumpet; Kent Trittle, organ; Andrew Henderson, harpsichord.
To get a sense of how many Messiah concerts I have
attended (not as many as I thought,) I looked back on my blog for them. One I landed on quite accidentally was the
one in 2014. Some of the words and
phrases I used to describe the various components of the performance were:
unremarkable, sounded a bit forced, wasn’t at all exceptional, muddled through
it.
Without a doubt my assessment of tonight’s concert was very
different. Very soon into the program I
was already impressed with how great the oratorio sounded.
The first thing that hit was how precise the chorus was. Not until it made the first “mistake”
(precision) did it occur to me the choir sounded like four voices (instead of
four groups of voices,) and that applied to some of the faster 16th-note
runs. And the phrasing was exquisite. Oftentimes one could tell how the sopranos
strained to reach the high notes (e.g., the A in Hallelujah chorus), but not
today.
The individual soloists all did well. Costanzo, who was impressive in the Glass
Handel performance I heard, also did well tonight. Perhaps it is the characteristic of the countertenor’s
range and timbre, the voice didn’t carry as well as it did in the much smaller
church a couple of weeks ago. I suppose
the performances were a lot more intimate in Handel’s time. This was the first
time I heard Lauren Snouffer sing, and I was impressed. The aria “I know that my redeemer liveth” was
done in a most assured manner. The
Program marks this as her NY Phil debut, although she sang 2014 NY Phil
Biennial, per her biography. The two
other male voices were also solid.
And it was always nice to hear the trumpet in the aria “The
trumpet shall sound.”
I was ready to crown the performance with “the best ever
I have heard” about 30 minutes into the program, and indeed it was a most
enjoyable experience. A poorly performed
Messiah can feel likes a few well-known songs with middle-of-the-road material
in between; and that was absolutely not the case here. The quality of the chorus did seem to
deteriorate a little bit after the intermission. One reason may be the length of the program
which puts a real demand on the chorus’s voices. In that sense the Hallelujah Chorus wasn’t as
great as I anticipated.
Conclusion of Messiah Performane
There must be many editions of this oratorio. The version I heard in 2014 was about 15
minutes longer, had a part for a boy soprano, and a virginal was used (although
I didn’t see it.) For tonight we had the
conductor at the harpsichord, as well as one sitting behind the orchestra.
Thanks to the 15 minutes that was edited out, I managed
to make the 10:20 pm train, although I had to run from the subway terminal to Track
13, and made the train with less than a minute to spare. Thanks to the NJ Transit App, I could look at
the track information and buy the ticket online without going to the monitor or
the ticket machine.
My ticket was bought from Goldstar, and the attendance
for tonight was quite good.
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