When someone mentions Handel’s Messiah and good ol’ Boston in the same breath, the Handel & Haydn Society typically comes to mind. After all, H+H has been presenting this Yuletide favorite for 172 years. It is a Beantown staple. However, orchestras far and wide perform this masterpiece throughout Advent every year. Boston Baroque’s rendition at Jordan Hall certainly ranks among the finest.
Friday night’s performance at NEC’s Jordan Hall was magnificent. From the opening notes of the instrumental “Symphony” to the final full-throttle “Amen,” conductor Filippo Ciabatti led the orchestra and chorus through this oratorio (with various novel nuances) replete with animated expertise. His entire body moved vivaciously on the rostrum, arms drawing wide circles midair as the players, locked in perfect synchronization, gave the audience a three-hour exemplary rendition of this Baroque mainstay. Recently, at a different concert, my wife remarked, “It would have been great to see the conductor’s face.” I felt the same way this night. When Ciabatti turned to face the audience after each of Messiah’s three parts — his striking, ethnic visage filled with passion and gratitude — I realized how enjoyable it would have been to see his countenance as he conducted.
Writing about Messiah is certainly not as arduous as performing it, but fitting the three-hour experience of hearing it performed with extraordinary proficiency into a single review is a challenge. But here goes…
The four soloists were impeccably variegated. From the moment internationally renowned tenor Thomas Cooley pierced the stillness with “Comfort ye,” I was entranced. During the entire time he sang, he did not glance at his music once. He held his closed folio to his chest, releasing sonorous lines that he summoned with each breath, seeming to conjure it from the thousands of performances that graced this elegant, century-and-a-quarter old, horseshoe-shaped musical hall. Of particular note, was Cooley’s deportment when singing the Recitative in Part II (Psalm 64:20). The music came from a place deeper than his larynx. His eyes shaped it. His smile embraced it. It was if the notes spoke to his soul through osmosis: the way verses from Scripture inspire the preacher who clutches a well-worn, closed Bible.
The aptitude and presence of soprano Amanda Forsythe were equally impressive. One could not help but fall into her wide, chestnut eyes. She delivered the “Air” from Malachi 3:3 (“But who may abide”) with pristine resonance, her animated expression supplemented the verses she painted with her voice. While some orchestras skip Part III of Messiah (due to both the length of the oratorio and the sense of a natural denouement that follows the legendary “Hallelujah Chorus”), Forsythe hypnotized the audience with the opening words from the middle of Job’s story: “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” With pure acumen her voice, never overpowering, pierced the stillness with the same supple, hopeful timbre that Job lifted in prayer from his ash-heap.
Irish mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy beautifully complemented Forsythe. More reserved but no less gifted than her counterpart, Murrihy entered immediately after the “Pifa.” The latter, featured in the soundtrack to the 2016 heart-wrenching Kenneth Lonergan film Manchester by the Sea to offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gray landscape, was apropos. With the weather plummeting to a dry 21 degrees outside, Murrihy gave voice to the trepidation mixed with elation that must have belonged to the shepherds when the angel announced Jesus’ birth. Her vibrant air melded with the verses she sang with flawless pitch and sublime articulation. Her voice was operatic and willowy, granting the chorus room to breathe before they erupted into the chorus “Glory to God in the highest,” conjoined by the fanfare of trumpeters Steven Marquardt and Jesse Levine, who are also members of H+H and performed the same piece at Symphony Hall last weekend. As at that performance, Marquardt appeared center stage (instead of in the eaves) drawing accolades this night as he accompanied Baritone Roderick Williams for the Pauline apocalyptic verse “The trumpet shall sound” in Part III, one of the evening’s highlights. It was the only piece that was not the end of a section that received applause.
Roderick Williams, the fourth soloist, possessed a baritonal power that belied his slim, athletic frame. His rapid vibrato, hemmed by meticulous control — rivalled only by Forsythe’s facility, particularly during the Air “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion” — was palpable in Part I as the words from the prophets Isaiah (“And I will shake”) and Malachi (“The Lord, whom we seek”) reverberated through the theater.
Not long afterwards, Williams led listeners through the meandering terrain of another passage from Isaiah: the Aria that begins “The people that walked in darkness.” Full of anticipation, it gushed just prior to what is probably the second most often played passage from this collection: the Chorus “For unto us a child is born.” Williams’ tone and delivery sat on the ears the way a fine cabernet sauvignon unfolds on the back of the tongue. These were words to be savored, words one could almost taste. The baritone, looking intently at the audience, his gaze moving from the front rows to the balcony, personified Isaiah, his words intimating a promise and an omen.
The chorus deserves equal acclaim. Along with the orchestra, they fastened onto Ciabatti, as he modulated the dynamics with punctilious precision. The stellar crescendos and diminuendos rose to brilliant peaks one moment before reposing into a contemplative mode in another. This is an eloquent, lustrous troop.
Likewise, the orchestra comprised sterling individuals. Concertmaster and principal violinist Christina Day Martinson, who is also the Associate Concertmaster for H+H, led with subtlety and directness. Her execution made the extremely difficult seem routine — the mark of a true master.
I was equally drawn to keyboardist Leon Schelhase who served the dual role of organist and harpsichordist. He was positioned at an angle, facing the conductor while playing the harpsichord or turning 90 degrees to the left to play the organ. (Similar set-ups have been employed in popular music, by players such as Garth Hudson from The Band and Alan Clark of Dire Straits fame.) Schelhase’s sheet music remained on the harpsichord making it easier to follow Ciabatti’s direction. His fingers danced with delicate force, never appearing ostentatious though always virtuosic. Much like Martinson, he made the intricate seem effortless, which is the emblem of pure skill.
Together, orchestra and chorus constructed a wave of seamless harmonization, rising and falling together as Schelhase’s harpsichord joined the cellists and double bassist to fashion the steadfast frame over which the entire orchestra and chorus flourished.
As a footnote, I could not help but periodically focus on the style of dress worn by the orchestra and chorus. It is becoming vogue among symphony orchestras — the BSO and Ciabatti’s bowtie notwithstanding — to dress in business casual attire. Men forgo ties. Many women don slacks. Boston Baroque mirrored this nouveau fashion. However, with everyone dressed in all black apparel, the emphasis became the music rather than fashion. Only Forsythe’s and Murrihy’s gowns displayed color. They complemented each other beautifully: the former in sparkling emerald green with a matching necklace; the latter in a luxurious black dress accented with a layered, gold skirt. As a whole, the stage was somber (as Advent is), though not void of expressive motifs. Visually, less can be more.
Baroque music is mathematically complex and full of textures that allow ample breathing room. It is visceral. It feels the way spruce smells. There is a cultural elitism imbued in it, though it is highly accessible. Boston Baroque personifies this, faithfully delivering a version of Messiah to a diverse audience. They presented all three parts of Handel’s magnum opus as a cohesive whole, offering a fresh interpretation that nonetheless remained faithful to the original.
In the program notes, Boston Baroque’s Music Director Martin Pearlman concurs, observing that “One of the special challenges in performing Messiah year after year is to keep it sounding fresh, as if one had just discovered it.” Mission accomplished, Boston Baroque. Bravo!
John Tamilio III, Ph.D. is the Pastor of the Congregational Church of Canton, a Professor of Philosophy at Salem State University, and a professional guitarist who plays solo acoustic and for the Boston-based classic rock band, 3D. His playing has been applauded by David Brown (Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel), Jack Sonni (Dire Straits), and Carter Allen (WZLX). An aficionado of classical music, particularly the Baroque era, Tamilio’s publications are vast, covering not only music, philosophy, and theology, but the poetry of T.S. Eliot as well. He resides in Beverly with his wife Cynthia.
Robert Torres’ dramatic photos above and below. Captions:
Top left mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy; top right baritone Roderick Williams
next down soprano Amada Forsythe and tenor Thomas Cooley
