…I was enthralled by this concert
Tempesta di Mare and Choral Arts Philadelphia treated a large audience to an exceptional performance of Handel’s Messiah. The score used was as close as scholarship can come to the premiere performance led by Handel in Dublin almost 271 years ago. It called for baroque strings, valveless trumpets, timpani, harpsichord, organ and theorbo, but no wind instruments.
The Tempesta orchestra is accustomed to playing without a conductor, but not the Choral Arts singers. It is usually a challenge to keep everyone together in a work like this; but Sunday’s performance demonstrated that it can be done well. I attributed this to the level of musicianship of the singers and players, to the proximity of the chorus and orchestra that made it possible for the musicians to hear each other, and to their attentiveness to the visual and musical cues.
The singers were superbly trained, shaping their phrases to suit the nuances of the words and music. The diction was so good that all of the words were intelligible, even in the fast choruses. Their precision was remarkable in “For unto us a child is born.” Here as in other choruses, the melismatic passages were synchronized perfectly with the orchestra, each 16th note sung clearly and evenly. Their sound remained beautiful throughout the various changes of color and mood. In one moment their voices conveyed joy as they sang “Glory to God,” and in another their voices turned serious as they sang “Behold the lamb of God.”
I was enthralled by this concert. Of course, Handel’s Messiah is a masterpiece. It received a performance on Sunday that honored this reputation. If Handel had been able to hear it, I think he might have said he wanted Tempesta di Mare and Choral Arts to play his second performance with him.” Local Arts Live, March 20, 2013.