Every holiday season, Handel’s Messiah comes to town. Not once, not twice, but many times. With all the options, how can an audience member decide which one to choose?
On Dec. 22, ArtChoral and Ensemble Caprice delivered an inspiring performance of Handel’s Messiah. It seems that Juno award-winning conductor Matthias Maute takes avid delight in showcasing how old works can always sound new, so long as they are performed with technical precision, intentionality, and a lot of joyful energy.
When Messiah season comes around next year, audiences would do well to consider ArtChoral’s version.
Matthias Maute conducting ArtChoral’s Messiah. Photo: TamPhotography
What you missed?
A Baroque oratorio, Messiah is emblematic of rhetorical music. In the Baroque era, composers strived to emulate aspects of speech. In pursuing the phrasal gestures of great orators, they could “make music talk”, and express emotions in a sensical manner. As an oratorio—a composition that tells a story—Messiah is deeply rhetorical. Every musical aspect serves the meaning of the text.
ArtChoral’s performance of Messiah did speak, and generally quite clearly. I was most impressed to find that there was never a phrase or a musical turn that seemed superfluous to the work as a whole. Each musical gesture, no matter how small, was performed with a high degree of intentionality and always served the meaning of the text.
The text was very well articulated, especially by soloists Rose Naggar-Tremblay, Emmanuel Hasler and Geoffroy Salvas. It really heightens the experience of an opera or oratorio when you can decipher the lyrics being sung. Hasler had a particularly strong stage presence and acted out his role as holy messenger with serious conviction. Notably, he had most of his vocal parts memorized. It is a real treat to hear lower register voices as limpid and articulated as Naggar-Tremblay’s and Silvas’. In particular, Naggar-Tremblay’s passages with cello continuo were sublime; her contralto voice and cello paired perfectly to showcase the velvety opulence of the lower registers.
ArtChoral’s Messiah. Photo: TamPhotography
The acoustics of the Maison symphonique are such that you can hear a pin drop, and Maute used the hall’s sensitivity to his advantage. The work was conducted with very clear, strong dynamics. There was also an excellent balance between the voices and the orchestra; each voice projected very well and was not overwhelmed by the orchestra.
A composer as well, Maute included one of his own works at the beginning of the concert. It was a type of modern rendition of the Hallelujah chorus, which blended Baroque with contemporary elements. Maute gave the audience one melodic line to sing while the choir sang a more complex Hallelujah line. The audience seemed to love being able to participate in the performance.
Gripes:
Soprano Marianne Lambert’s diction was not as strong as the other soloists, making it difficult to decipher the lyrics in her arias. The Baroque trumpets also hesitated quite a bit with their lines in the bass aria, “The Trumpet Shall Sound.”
There were several uncanny occurrences during Handel’s iconic Hallelujah movement. The first consisted of several false starts by the double-bassist. I found this to be humorous, primed as I was in my seat for the glorious gravitas of the Hallelujah. Errors like this are just part of the thrill of live performance.
What was even more surprising than the underwhelming start to this most famous of choruses was the fact that nearly the whole audience got up and started to sing along. Why, I wondered, were they doing this? Did Maute unwittingly encourage the audience by having us sing along with his own “Hallelujah” at the concert’s start? Though I would have personally liked to sit back and listen to the professionals, I can’t say whether this collective bursting forth into song was either good or bad—just very unexpected.
Ensemble ArtChoral’s season continues with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on Feb. 14, 2025
