Fine account of Messiah (From Hereford Times)

Fine account of Messiah

11:03am Thursday 14th December 2006 in Leisure

HEREFORD Choral Society gave a fine account of Handel's oratorio Messiah on Saturday night, sounding well-blended and balanced.

The Marches Baroque sounded rather more bland, understating certain staccato effects and the dramatic accompaniment to the tenor's Thou shalt break them in pieces. The vibrato style of the solo singing, especially by expressive mezzo-soprano Joanne Gamble, was strangely at odds with the authentic baroque style of the instrumentalists.

The flexibility of soprano Alicia Carroll's phrasing came across rather unevenly, but it was an attractive voice with some ringing high notes. Baritone Eamonn Dougan was also happiest in his upper register, singing expressive recitatives and nicely balanced with the baroque trumpet in The trumpet shall sound. The tenor, William Unwin, shone notably in his moving interpretation of the aria Behold, and see.

Apparently unmindful of his chosen edition's markings (mostly slower than Allegro), Geraint Bowen set a cracking pace, virtually identical for many of the numbers. Some movements took a few bars to settle, and the occasional respite from all this frantic activity, as in the aria He was despised, engendered a welcome sense of relief.

Inevitably much of the majesty, stature and sheer genius of the work were not altogether realised. If Mr Bowen were generously concerned for his audience's comfort and stamina, he might have cut more numbers and reduced the pace of others.

Michael Smith