George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Messiah (1741)
Eboracum Baroque/Chris Parsons
rec. 17-20 December 2020, Saint Mary’s Church, Swaffham Prior, UK
EBORACUM BAROQUE [2 CDs: 132:08]
This recording features the Orchestra and Choir Eboracum Baroque, a group that describes itself as “an ensemble of young professional singers and instrumentalists”. It was formed by their conductor, Chris Parsons, while studying at the University of York in a similar manner to groups such as La Serenissima, which began life as a group formed by students at the Royal College of Music. They have performed in many stately homes in the UK.
The choir of eleven singers is supported by a nine-piece instrumental ensemble. Handel would certainly have been no stranger to forces of this size. Indeed, the recording, made during the first year of the pandemic, would have encountered many challenges similar to those that Handel endured regarding availability of performers and the dodging of plagues. The production benefitted from a significant crowd funded sum of over £8000. Chris Parsons is to be congratulated for his perseverance in fixing such a production.
For all the above reasons I was excited when I was sent this Messiah to review, wanted very much to like it and listened to it many times. My own Messiah credentials run to over ninety performances as a player, choral trainer and conductor ranging from the fiercely “authentic” period instrument performances through traditional to the extreme of three massed African choirs who had miraculously learnt the entire piece by Sol-fa, a feat many singers would do well to try!
Parsons writes that his group has created its own interpretation of Messiah and hope their production is “an exciting take on Handel’s masterpiece”. However, there are no details of, or credits for, the edition being performed and no timings are given for the fifty numbers offered. The “exciting take” includes some welcome versions of well-known arias such as the engaging 12/8 Rejoice Greatly and
what seemed to me to be some less-welcome alterations. Messiah over the years has undergone so many incarnations and re-incarnations that it has gained a reputation for being almost indestructible - but it’s not.
The hard-working nine-piece orchestra in the main do a sterling job and there is much good playing, including some fine obligato violin solos, pleasing if slightly understated continuo playing and some very fine contributions from the two trumpets in the larger choruses, Brendan Musk, of whom more later, ably supported by Kaitlin Wild, who plays a robust and rhythmic second trumpet with Fabien Edwards on the timpani. The importance of this section of the orchestra to a Messiah performance is often ignored as they often control the cadences in the larger choruses more than the conductor and have the power to greatly enhance or destroy a performance. Here Parsons makes good use of this fine section of players.
The performance starts, as always, with the orchestral Sinfonia, usually played by the upper strings with continuo (double bass, cello, with organ or harpsichord) which has two parts, the first marked Grave, literally solemn, with the second part being an Allegro moderato. The first section should be majestic and introspective as Grave is considered to be one of the slowest tempo markings in music. Here the orchestra attempts to play in the gallant style where the dotted notes are double dotted – nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, the players substitute the lengthened notes with rests or silences. The result is that the rhythms are not wholly together. In addition, the studiously non-vibrato upper strings play here with a decay which is overdone. To cap it all, the tempo is a full twenty beats per minute faster than the accepted maximum for this tempo marking. The result is a sound resembling a rather over-cranked hurdy-gurdy and certainly not majestic or solemn. This is unfortunate to say the least, as it is followed by a lively and nicely played, if again, speedy, second section. Better to play the notes written by the master very well and not kowtow to the obsessive fashion for playing baroque music at Keystone Cops tempos which do not let the music breathe and are questionable in terms of research and authenticity. In matters such as this, the responsibility rests with the conductor.
In this production of Messiah, the solo responsibilities are shared among the choir members and the first of these is the tenor Gareth Edwards who sings a very creditable rendition of Comfort Ye my People and Every Valley Shall be Exalted. Along with his fellow tenor James Micklethwaite, the tenor solo arias are well cared for. When one allows the title “soloist” to be appended to one’s name there are expectations that come into play that do not apply to other performers and these young gentlemen uphold that expectation, not only in their solo contributions but within the choir, which sounds much larger than the numbers would suggest. There are also fine contributions from the alto Rebecca Legget, and soprano Charlotte Bowden.
I am sad to say that some of the solo performances of the arias or airs do not reach this standard. For example, in the shortened aria Why do the nations so furiously rage together the opening bass arpeggio is not in tune and the rhythm towards the end is untidy. Elsewhere there are instances of passage- work
aand intonation that is not above suspicion.
On a very positive note, many of the choruses on this recording are good listening, including a very assured rendition of Surely he hath borne our griefs and also the two choruses which follow suit in good style. Chris Parsons opts for four sopranos in this small choir where three might have offered a better consensus of pitch as the spectre of faulty intonation again dogs the very highest top notes most unfortunately in the most famous chorus, Hallelujah, which is most notable for some fine orchestral playing. The aria Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,
sung by Gareth Edmunds, is a joy to listen to.
Another highlight of any Messiah performance features the bass soloist and the fifth and often taken- for- granted solo performer, the solo trumpet, who is usually the principal trumpet player of the orchestra - in this case, Brendan Musk who is a more-than-capable exponent of the natural trumpet in D. This piece is The trumpet shall sound, evoking the final judgement and includes as its opening bars the fanfare notes played at all court sessions in the eighteenth century and so would have been well-known to the audience. In this performance, Musk gives us a lyrical approach with a good rhythmic sense, although I
wonder if Abraham Adcock, Handel’s trumpet player at the Foundling Hospital performance, might have raised an eyebrow at
what seem to be to be a large number of slurred notes. Again, there are intonation issues in the vocal part and again this bass aria is shortened as the second section and da capo repeat to the beginning are not performed. However, this vital number ends in good style.
I now move to the final choruses, Worthy is the Lamb and Amen, the beginning of which has an emphasis on the words “that- was –slain”. I find this annoying in the extreme. Handel was a master of the use of silence to heighten the drama in a piece and knew that its misuse - or worse, overuse - can result in a festival of bad taste.
The jewel case that accompanies the CD is certainly Handelian and sports a
front cover with an engraving of the composer. The inner cover has images of
the original score and the back cover a notice of the first London
performance where there would normally be track information. The booklet
front cover has an image of the famous Thomas Hudson painting of Handel and
the booklet itself has details of the programme without timings. There is
full list of performers but little information on the work itself or
biographies of the performers. For further information, the listener is
directed to the group’s website where there are perfectly good programme
notes written by Stephen Rose and a QR code to access further details.
Finally, I would like to say that this recording has many good points and Chris Parsons presides over a group that gives a sense of joy in their performance to contrast with some of the rather austere, supposedly authentic but more accurate performances available. It is ultimately a curate’s egg; there are significant flaws which prevent the recording from being a contender as it stands. I am sure that Eboracum Baroque will find this recording a useful marketing tool
for their future concerts and hope that at some time they will do the necessary tweaks to it in order to present the production as it should be, when I would very much like to hear it again.
John Durrant
