Religious art operates under the principle that God wants the best. St. Thomas Church does its best to oblige. Its “Messiah” performances are near the top of New York’s many Christmas attractions. Handel’s beloved oratorio returned to St. Thomas on Tuesday evening and will repeat Thursday.
“Messiah,” written in 1741, is as much about Easter as about Christmas, but its famous “Hallelujah” chorus can apply as well to celebrations of divine birth as to those of resurrection. Charles Jennens’s text, moreover, is more commentary than narrative. It responds to the chronology of Jesus’ birth, life, death and rebirth.
But there is no doubt how thoroughly Christmas has appropriated “Messiah” for its own. The work arrives every December and begins its worldwide and fabulously successful monthlong run. The operatic tone and high sense of theater are one explanation for Handel’s success, but in the end it is the music’s special quality.
Handel’s counterpoint is as learned as any, but he sought his audience’s attention at every measure, probably more than Bach did. “Behold, the lamb of God,” “Surely he hath borne our griefs” and “Since by man came death” are wildly original for their harmonic twists and clashes. But even more impressive is how pure music gains such direct contact with the anguish it tries to describe.
John Scott conducted his St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and Concert Royal’s band of period instruments. I have never heard them all do so well. Mr. Scott takes the light-footed approach of clear textures, pointed accents and rapid tempos. The young St. Thomas trebles were alert and beautifully tuned. Adult tenors and basses, five on a part, were scarcely less good. “Messiah” was opulently served.
James Richman’s Concert Royal, about 30 players, was skilled and involved, more impressive than a lot of the city’s early-music bands I have heard recently. John Thiessen’s solos in “The trumpet shall sound,” a treacherous affair on old valveless instruments, was a victory of good technique and steady nerves.
Handel’s vocal solos include high-speed acrobatics not completely natural to bigger, more contemporary singing techniques. These days such virtuosity is addressed though rarely triumphed over. I liked the tenor Scott Williamson’s way of putting words just a hairbreadth in front of tones, also his graceful ornaments.
Craig Phillips sang with a handsome, elegant bass. Ryland Angel was the very effective male alto. The soprano Amanda Balestrieri, who battled uneasily with “Rejoice greatly,” had a nice dignity.
The inner church itself has cowboy dimensions, slim in width but very tall. The people at St. Thomas kindly seated me very close to the action, where both Mr. Scott’s insistence on clarity and the natural echo of the church were held in balance. How well people to the rear of the church and more at the mercy of rebounding sounds were able to hear, I can only guess.
