I only bought my ticket for this after having been sorely disappointed by ENO's banal and pointless staged version the previous week. I am not sure why I did not book it previously, considering the mouth-watering line-up.
It was close to as perfect a Messiah experience as can be, although I stand by my contemporaneous tweet that it was very pleasant and technically excellent, but never passionate.
Our performers were The English Concert, with Harry Bicket leading from the harpsichord, and the small but perfectly formed Choir of the English Concert, with Lucy Crowe, Patricia Bardon, Allan Clayton and James Rutherford as the four soloists, in what I consider to be the 'traditional' array of soloists, no pesky countertenors or schoolboys* to disrupt the balance.
The gentlemen wore traditional penguin suits, the ensemble ladies plain black dresses or separates. The female soloists wore lavish concert dress. I wasn't sure about Patricia Bardon's, with its weird pink lined cape effect. Lucy Crowe's red dress with asymmetric embroidery looked gorgeous and really suited her. I wish now I had taken a photo, because I just cannot describe dresses! And it seems that Intermezzo wasn't there, or if so, has not yet posted!
Overall I can't fault the performance by choir or orchestra. Not that they were perfect, but in a piece so familiar it is inevitable that will spot flubs, interpretations different from the familiar and a failure to achieve that goosebump moment like that favourite recording. And, of course, with period instruments, one can always expect surprises! I particularly liked the sound of the high strings in several passages of extreme staccato. And the altos in the choir sounded delicious.
I am extremely rubbish at noticing cuts in performance. However well I know the music of a work - and there are few works I know better than Messiah - I can rarely spot cuts. I did spot that He Was Despiséd, was performed without giving his back to his smiters but it was, nevertheless the outstanding number of the evening. I daresay there were other cuts, too, but I am the least reliable source on such matters.
It wouldn't be accurate to describe the cast as 'stellar' but impressive would be no exaggeration. Patricia Bardon, mezzo, was outstanding. She has such a rich creamy voice, especially in the lower part of her range, and she is obviously intimate with this work. Lucy Crowe, soprano, gave yet another impressive performance; I have yet to hear her and be disappointed.
I was very interested in young tenor Allan Clayton, having heard him last week as Cassio. I don't think his performance this week was as strong as last week, but, nevertheless, he was very pleasing to the ear. I do have a concern that he could go down the wrong road and end up one of those bland 'English tenors' types, but this is by no means inevitable.
I did feel with both Allan and Lucy that they were lacking something when it came to stagecraft. It's difficult to say what, because obviously there is little scope to characterise the parts, and any over-acting would be highly inappropriate. It was just a bit noticeable alongside Patricia Bardon's instinctive communication with the audience.
I was disappointed with James Rutherford, and disappointed he wasn't the originally billed Matthew Rose. It seems unfair to criticise because he was technically proficient, he was always on pitch, and there were no concerns about breath control, wobble or whatever. His diction and enunciation are of the highest order. It is absolutely immaterial that he is in danger of morphing into Robbie Coltrane, and he really should get rid of the dodgy 80s style fringe. His higher notes are really quite pleasant, and it really isn't his fault that I'm rubbish at hearing basses properly.
All that having been said, I was just left with a feeling that he wasn't really into the part. It's also not fair to compare to the very best examples I have on CD, but his performance lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. It is not unusual to find singers with an excellent basic instrument, good technique, and sound musicianship, and lacking in the indefinable element, part charisma and part communication that would make them special. Perhaps he would communicate better if he got his fringe cut off - it does seem to exist almost separately from the rest of him.
All of the different elements worked well, and worked well together, and it was never less than competent. But it lacked the electricity, the spark, the chemistry, the passion that makes for a really great Messiah performance. But after the ENO fiasco, I was very pleased that I went!
* why never choir girls?
