Symphony Hall, Boston. Center Balcony (Seat F10, $79.75)
End of concert. One can see the baroque horns being used. In the front: John Holiday, Joelle Harvey, Jonathan Cohen, Stuart Jackson, Jose Coco Loza.
Program: Handel's Messiah
Artists: Joelle Harvey, soprano; John Holiday countertenor; Stuart Jackson, tenor; Jose Coca Loza, bass-baritone.
Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus
The chorus roster lists 31 singers, 30 were on stage. I am recording this so I can compare with how many will be singing with the New York Philharmonic in December.
We had bought tickets to NJ Symphony's performance of Messiah at Alexander Hall in Princeton, but had to return them because of conflict with a trip to Boston in mid-December. Separately, we decided to come up to Boston after Thanksgiving since we had not seen Joe's family since the summer. When I asked if there were any Messiah programs, I was told the H+H Society puts out a series every year, and it will coincide with our visit.
We head heard H+H chorus at a New York Philharmonic Messiah performance, back in December 2019, and enjoyed that concert. The chorus will again be in NY this year, we have tickets, so I am quite curious to see how they do in their elements.
Bottom line. They were okay, but did far below my expectations. At intermission Anne and I both shook our heads, albeit at different aspects.
My assessment was the performance was technically great, but lacked exuberance. There are no fatal flaws - this group first performed music from Messiah in 1815, after all. After making this statement, I read in the Program Notes someone's critique of a 1784 performance at Westminster Abbey: ... the effect resembled a clock-work in everything, but want of feeling and expression. Better wordsmithing, same sentiment.
The chorus was surprising small, 30 people altogether (the roster shows 31). For the 2019 NY Phil performance I counted 44 chorus members, and I wonder how many will be there next month. The volume relative to the orchestra and soloists was good, but overall the sound was weak. I thought they did the high notes very well, and the 16th note runs were crisp.
The orchestra uses period instruments, they had to be tuned several times during the performance. I notice all the violinists and violists are women (roster has one or two men). The trumpets used were period (perhaps what's called baroque trumpets), noticeable by the lack of valves, and long pipes. One of the two players had his mask on all the time; I didn't think that was possible. It did seem difficult to play precisely in tune, perhaps due to forced harmonics produced by the unmovable parts. There were two harpsichords used, one by the conductor, and a small organ (or a harmonium). One complaint is that I can't find a list of instruments used. There are year-over-year variations in how NY Philharmonic puts together the instrument ensemble, I imagine that's true of H+H also. The concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky was in a recital with Yi-Heng last year, which I saw on line.
I heard Joelle Harvey before, in a Messiah performance 10 years ago. She was the standout among the soloists. The countertenor had a voice closest to a female's - not sure if that's the objective - but sounded saccharine perhaps because of it. The two male voices are on the weak side, especially that of the bass-baritone; I had to cup my ears to hear him properly.
One note after I posted the blog entry just now. Many Program Notes for Messiah discuss why audience members stand during the Hallelujah Chorus, and that it is up to the individual to decide. My first thoughts were Boston is where the tea party happened, so why would people here want to honor a tradition a British monarch may or may not have started. To my surprise, nearly everyone stood. Being the conformists/cowards that we are, we also stood.
There were a few empty seats in the auditorium, and quite a few left at the break. Boston audiences are less concerned about disturbing others. A few people were taking photos or videos during the performance, and the father/daughter in front of us kept whispering to one another. I was hushed in New York for turning the page too loudly. The noticeably younger audience did not cough as much, so that was good.
The auditorium was reasonably full as the performance was about to begin. Quite a few people left at intermission.
This is Jonathan Cohen's first year as the director, and this is the first Messiah performance, so perhaps there were some opening concert jitters? I couldn't tell, but here's hoping he will do better.
The chorus must be invited to various venues during the Messiah season, so the members have a busy schedule ahead of them. They should be admired for bring great music to people across the country.
Joe dropped us off. The Orange Line has a station a couple of blocks away. When we asked the station agent whether we could simply swipe our credit cards for the gates, she simply opened a gate for us and invited us to walk through. The trains are quite new, and we got off at Assembly Square to have dinner with Joe's family.
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