Every Valley...Has Its Terrors

My first time performing Handel's Messiah.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Where's your Messiah now?

In the course of my professional career, both as the author of Superconductor and for other publications, I have written an awful lot of reviews. However, last night at the National Chorale's annual Messiah Sing-In at David Geffen Hall, the tables were turned: I found myself, along with the audience, as a choral performer, embedded among professional and vocational singers in a struggle with Handel's written work. So yesterday I did the smart thing: bought a copy of the Dover miniature score at Juilliard and sat in Starbucks, listening to a new BR Klassik recording of the oratorio and dog-earing the choral sections in the score: the sections which I would be participating in in the night's performance.

Concert Review: Salvation on Fifth Avenue

The St. Thomas Men and Boys Choir presents Handel's Messiah.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The St. Thomas Chois of Men and Boys, earlier this season performing Israel in Egypt.
Photo from St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

There are any number of ways for a chorus and orchestra to come together to perform Messiah, the 1741 oratorio that remains Handel's most popular contribution to the canon of Western classical music. For New Yorkers, one of the most satisfying and traditional Messiah experiences to be had is held each year at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, which is home to one of the few choral schools still operating in the United States.

Concert Review: The Boys' Club

The St. Thomas Choir celebrates Handel's Messiah.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Enraged Musician. Engraving by William Hogarth from 1741,
the year of the premiere of Handel's Messiah.

Handel's Messiah is a ubiquitous event for New York music lovers, with as many as thirty different choruses and ensembles offering performances of this oratorio. On Tuesday night, New York Baroque Incorporated and the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys kicked off the Advent season  with the first of two performance this week at St. Thomas Church. Using period instruments, four soloists and an all-male chorus, this modest Messiah was as Handel himself might have heard it.

Concert Review: Keeping the Faith

The Philharmonic resurrects Handel's Messiah.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Jane Glover.
Photo by Ken Howard for Chicago Music of the Baroque.

Ever since the twelve-year music directorship of the late Kurt Masur, the oratorio has resumed pride of place at the New York Philharmonic. That was confirmed last week when Jane Glover, the eminent British musicologist and conductor known to New Yorkers from her opera performances at Juilliard, made her debut with the orchestra conducting this year's run of Handel's Messiah.

Do You Hear What We Hear?

A quick Superconductor guide to holiday concerts.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Homer Simpson does some last minute shopping.
Image from Tis the Fifteenth Season © 2004 Gracie Films/20th Century Fox.

The holidays are in full festive swing at Superconductor and we are proud to present this quick guide to music being made in the late December here in New York City. So here's ten concerts, light on the gingerbread for when you want to hear something other than Handel's Messiah. (Don't worry our elves start off with a recommendation for Messiah also.)

Concert Review: Salvation Found Together

The Trinity Choir presents Messiah (again.)
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Singers of the Trinity Choir.
Photo by Leah Reddy for Trinity Church.

Handel's Messiah remains his blockbuster. It has remained in the repertory for 261 years, moving from a work performed to raise money for hospitals at Easter to an annual New York tradition in celebration of Christmas. Each year, its most traditional visitation comes at Trinity Church, which gave the work's New York premiere when it was considered "new music." That premiere was echoed by Wednesday night's performance, which also kicked off a month-long celebration of baroque music at this historic locale.

Concert Review: New York Philharmonic Resurrects Handel's "Messiah"

Bernard Labadie. Photo by David Cannon

The New York Philharmonic performed Handel's Messiah as part of this year's holiday celebrations. Wednesday night featured a powerful, uplifting performance with four fine soloists under the skilled direction of conductor Bernard Labadie.

New York's classical music schedule is always crowded with  Messiah at this time of year.  But something about the New York Phiharmonic's performances is special. It could be the high quality of the choral singing, interacting with the orchestra's crack musicians. Or the presence of a strong conductor on the podium, leading Handel's most famous oratorio.

Either way, this year's run of Messiah has a definite French-Canadian twist. Mr. Labadie is from Québéc, along with his two female soloists: soprano Karina Gauvan and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux. Ms. Gauvan's big moment was "I know that my redeemer liveth", sung with soaring, inspirational tone. Ms. Lemieux's plummy alto filled in the range often taken by a countertenor, singing the recitatives with a firm delivery and her arias with power and a pleasing lower voice.

The male soloists were pretty good. Tenor Tilman Lichdi is a German import. He has a smallish, if pleasing voice--rather like a younger Ian Bostridge. Bass Andrew Foster Williams was impressive, maneuvering his rather large instrument through "Why do the Nations/He that Dwelleth", the lengthy aria that quotes the letters of St. Paul.

Mr. Foster-Williams' solo set up the "Hallelujah" Chorus, sung by the New York Choral Artists with close harmony and precise counterpoint. The famous chorus was taken at a brisk tempo, but did not feel at all hurried. The Philharmonic audience stood attentively for the "Hallelujah", a tradition started by King George II at the work's London premiere.