By Márcio Bezerra
The Kravis Center’s Classical Concert Series launched its latest season with a performance that has set the standard so high that it will be difficult to surpass it.
Featuring the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus, the program’s sole work was the profoundly beautiful (and often butchered) George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
Written in 1741, the oratorio is popular during the Advent-Christmas season, although its focus on the whole life of Christ (from Annunciation to Resurrection and beyond) makes Easter a more appropriate season from a Christological point of view.
Featuring rousing choral writing and some of the most expressive solos of the Baroque period, Messiah has enjoyed hit status since its official premiere in 1742. With each generation adapting it to its own tastes, by the late 19th century the work had morphed into a choral monster that rivaled the Romantic behemoths. Fortunately, the past 50 years have seen a resurgence in more historically informed performances with fewer players, lighter voices, and faster tempi, thus restoring the work’s original sheen.
Still, most of the time, seasonal productions are quickly put-together events aiming to make money or, worse, sing-along versions in which people do not attend to hear the work, but to satisfy themselves by pretending to sing it.
None of that happened at the Kravis Center.
Founded in Boston in 1815, the so-called H+H has held a record 211 seasons. The group’s performance at Dreyfoos Hall displayed contrapuntal clarity, beautiful phrasing, and a sense of drama that was very appropriate for the Baroque masterwork.
Under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, the orchestra impressed with its nearly flawless intonation, rhythmic drive, and ensemble work. It was particularly satisfying to hear the addition of ornaments in the ritornelli, a practice common among Baroque music soloists, but rarely heard in orchestral playing.
The group brought along an impressive quartet of vocal soloists. Tenor Ben Bliss impressed from his first sung notes at the opening recitativo accompagnato “Comfort ye my people.” His subsequent aria “Ev’ry valley” was sung with fire and a flawless vocal technique. Mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau displayed a warm voice that was more appropriate to expressive arias such as “He was despised,” one of the highlights of the evening. Equally satisfying was soprano Lauren Snouffer, especially in more lyrical arias such as “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
But it was bass-baritone Nicholas Newton who monopolized the attention whenever he sang. His expressive and controlled instrument was capable of translating the textual drama in another level.
The chorus was an attraction on its own. Agile voices sounded with instrumental precision. They sang with fire, tenderness, and even contempt (as in “He trusted in God”), delivering each choral piece with unusual perfection. Their “Hallelujah” chorus was the best one could wish for, starting in a very joyful but controlled piano and progressing to a jubilant climax, heard by a standing audience (following a somewhat apocryphal tradition).
Unfortunately, an intermission in the middle of the work’s second part paused for 20 minutes its dramatic momentum. It would have made more sense to have an intermission after the first part.
Additionally, a medical incident interrupted the performance for another 25 minutes, displaying a somewhat (and worryingly) unprepared Kravis Center in dealing with emergencies. Paramedics took 10 minutes to arrive and another 15 minutes to evacuate the afflicted audience member. What is worse, nobody from the Kravis Center made an official announcement until the affair was almost over.
As the musical level gets higher at the Classical Concerts Series, one would hope that our main cultural institution will be better prepared to take care of its (mostly aging) patrons.