The current version of the Handelian classic, unveiled Friday evening in the first of four Seattle Symphony performances, is unique in this writer’s long memory of Seattle “Messiahs.” An English early-music specialist, Paul Agnew, is not only the conductor, but also the tenor soloist. Has the conductor signed well-schooled oratorio singers, or opera specialists, or a little of each? And the conductor himself (or herself, though it’s almost always the former), of course, makes a huge difference in whether the oratorio seethes with drama or snores with propriety. Finally, there are the soloists to consider. An operatic approach an 18 th-century period reading a 21 st-century modern-orchestra version: which will it be? And then there are the questions of scale: a tiny orchestra with only one or two players on a part, or a hefty one with lots of strings and winds? The size of the chorus, and the instructions given that chorus about articulation and singing style, brings in another round of complexities. It’s partly because there are so many variables in the complex score and in its interpretation. 18.Įvery year, the miracle happens again: a production of Handel’s “Messiah” that is completely different from any of the previous ones. Seattle Symphony and Chorale present Handel’s “Messiah,” with guest conductor/tenor soloist Paul Agnew Benaroya Hall, Dec.
0 kommentar(er)
