That Handel’s Messiah is as much a Christmas tradition in North America and parts of Europe as the Hollywood classic film It’s a wonderful life is a given. For its part, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal launched its Christmas season with a performance of the work on Tuesday, in a less-than-full Maison symphonique. This year, OSM chorus master Andrew Megill not only prepared the choir but also conducted a reduced orchestra.
His approach was more clinically efficient than emotionally inspired or engaged. Yet there were many virtues to his interpretation most notably with reference to the choir. Megill emphasised verbal clarity and rhythmic energy and the choir responded with a most accomplished and strongly accentuated reading. Vocally impressive, they revealed an admirable core homogeneity of sound with uniform and moulded vowels and crisp, lively consonants. They were asked to lighten their tone and vocal weight in order to better negotiate the work’s tricky coloratura passages and were most attentive to musical and linguistic accents. They rose as one to the mighty “Hallelujah” chorus but were equally impressive in “Since by man came death”.
With the exception of the first violins, (too often hampered by inconsistent attacks and faulty articulation) the orchestra too responded well to Megill’s vision of the work. In the spirit of modern performing practice, Megill adopted a minimalist approach to vibrato and bowing but overall orchestral textures were never insufficient or thin (especially not with three double-basses!) and contrasted well with the well-balanced and supportive continuo. If at times one would have wished Megill to linger a moment over a lyrical phrase or suspend a breath to ensure a soloist’s legato, his reading certainly had a spring in its step.
It is often forgotten that Handel wrote Messiah shortly after abandoning the composition of Italian opera. For more than 25 years, Italian opera had established Handel as the leading dramatic composer of age, but the genre had become prohibitively expensive and so he turned to the dramatic oratorio, a form less costly and one that could tap into the English love of choral music and their relish for religious, biblical subjects.
Megill was most fortunate in having a quartet of soloists who could underline and emphasise the dramatic drive of the Messiah’s narrative. If soprano Leslie Ann Bradley was slightly more non-descript in terms of vocal expressivity, her creamy soprano gave much vocal pleasure in her solos, especially “I know that my Redeemer liveth” but also in a jaunty “Rejoice greatly”. The latter, though not ideal of line or coloratura, was still vocally alluring. Her voice is evenly produced and rings out true and effortlessly especially above the stave. Alto Anita Krause brought complementary gifts to bear as was clear during their affecting duet, “He shall feed his flock”. Krause’s keen sense of verbal nuance and her expressive delivery and bearing added to the emotional impact of “He was despised”. However, her singing occasionally lacked a centred focus and vocal projection and had a tendency to turn a little pallid.