There are many opportunities to hear “Messiah” presented in the New York metro area - including a quite good “Grade 2/3″ (to use match racing parlance) performance this Sunday in Port Washington. Being a bit of a “junkie”, I wanted to hear another one this year, preferably a “Grade 1/2″.
The New York Philharmonic with guest conductor Helmuth Rilling and his singers, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, are doing it this week but I couldn’t make an evening performance. So I decided we’d try an open rehearsal on Tuesday morning. Obviously the potential audience is mostly music students and retirees, but Avery Fisher was actually quite full. The first 15 or so rows were roped off, but having arrived pretty early, we sat center a few rows back from that, probably very expensive seats - but all seats are $16 at an open rehearsal.
It’s funny to see the orchestra and chorus in jeans and warmup clothes with backpacks, Starbucks, and water bottles instead of tuxedos. They also slouch and cross their legs and chat. Some of the German kids in the chorus were studying City maps between their bits.
I like to have a libretto for Messiah because basically it is 4 dozen or so Bible verses repeated a bunch of times, and even after many times of hearing it, it’s not easy to tell what they are singing.
This is the 2nd Messiah I’ve heard with a countertenor (male voice equivalent to mezzo-soprano) which can be somewhat disconcerting. Daniel Taylor is a conductor in his own right and voice professor at Univ of Montreal and at McGill. Of the four solo parts his were the least, but I was very impressed that he was the only one without paper music. And several times the conductor had everyone pick up at particular spots to work on a section, and Taylor would just nod and be right in there, like he had a clear mental picture of the whole thing. Maybe all the pros can do that, but he seemed very professional. The other soloists were very good as well - Shenyang (only one name) the bassist is out of central casting for bassists - BIG guy.
The only drawback to the open rehearsal is that if the conductor feels they have something down cold, he just stops it - which unfortunately he did in…the Hallejuah Chorus! But otherwise this seemed like the real thing and a very interesting way to hear such a performance.