As we head into December, all over Australia (and other anglophone countries) audiences flock to performances of Handel’s Messiah. One wonders what Mr Handel would have made of this now irrevocable association with tinsel and fairy lights, given the work was written for an Easter week performance in Dublin nearly 300 years ago, and subsequent performances in London tended to be around that time of the year. Be that as it may, it is a great opportunity to sample this Baroque masterpiece, and sometimes one is rewarded with a real gem, as in this performance by the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra.
The RMP Choir has been turning out an annual Messiah since its inception in 1853, a considerable achievement, especially given that the British settlement of Melbourne itself is generally dated to 1835, with the colony, later state, of Victoria established in 1851. Melbourne Town Hall is another venerable institution, built in 1870 and imposingly Victorian (in both senses of the term), a monument to gold rush affluence. The interior does have the usual unfortunate barn-like aspect with respect to acoustics, but the mustered forces were able to mitigate that.
The performance generally followed the standard 1745-50 editions, with (happily) no cuts, and (unusually) two intervals. Judicious choices included allocating “But who may abide” to the bass, the pivotal sequence from “Thy rebuke” to “But thou didst not leave” to the tenor, and “If God be for us” to the soprano. Conductor Andrew Wailes circumvented the usual uncertain looking about and foot shuffling preceding the “Hallelujah” by turning to the audience and gesturing them to their feet before launching it; the soloists also stood and turned towards the choir.
Wailes is also the artistic director of the RMP Choir and Orchestra, and he has certainly done an impressive job here. The orchestra on this occasion, while performing largely on modern instruments – obviously not the harpsichord (Peter de Jager) – was of a Handelian size, and Wailes showed a good understanding of the overall architecture and narrative structure of the work. They performed with the requisite delicacy when depicting the shepherds in the field, provided appropriate support for the soloists and summonsed up impressive volume for the choruses. Timpanist Brent Miller really cut loose for the “Hallelujah” and final “Amen”. Andrew Bainbridge contributed to the continuo on the chamber organ, and ascended to the loft of the towering pipe organ for the “Hallelujah” and “Worthy is the Lamb” choruses. Christopher Grace produced a near faultless trumpet obligato for “The trumpet shall sound” (although with a modern trumpet one expects no less).
Singing was uniformly excellent. The choir was somewhat larger than one might have been expected, but was exemplary in its discipline and diction. American tenor Kyle Stegall showed what he was about right from the start, with sensitive melismas on the “comfort” of “Comfort ye”, and attractively plangent tone. “The trumpet shall sound” was the highlight it should be, sung with feeling in Jeremy Kleeman’s resonant bass. On the distaff side, the women’s clothing choices – resplendent amongst the sober black and white of the formally dressed orchestra and chorus – reflected their respective voices: soprano Sara Macliver in glittering silver, singing sparkling high notes with pin-point accuracy and effortless flexibility, and mezzo Sally-Anne Russell (in her 185th Messiah) in abundant, opulent purple providing rich rounded tone and heart-felt sincerity in a riveting “He was despised”.
At the conclusion, the audience erupted with a response little short of ecstatic, and was rewarded with a reprise of “Hallelujah” and an invitation to join in. Which many did. Fun for all.
