Handel’s Messiah
A music review by Shirley Politzer
Conductor Graham Abbott with the Sydney Philharminia orchestra and choir
Photo Keith Saunders
How long does it take to compose one of the most iconic oratorios?
In 1741 Handel composed Messiah in just 24 days, working tirelessly 12 hours a day to write the now famous choruses and arias like “For Unto Us a Child is Born”, “Rejoice Greatly” and of course the “Hallelujah Chorus.” With text taken directly from the Bible, Messiah gives life to biblical events.
In the final series for the year, the Sydney Philharmonia Choir’s traditional Christmas-time performance of Messiah, an oratorio in three parts, staged at the Sydney Opera House, was a very impressive affair. In addition to the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra and four soloists was the combined Symphony Chorus, Chamber Singers, VOX and the community Christmas Choir, in total around 600 singers. Most of the singers have participated in this fabulous event previously, choosing to travel nationally and internationally to be there.
The Chorus does much of the heavy lifting. Their balance of sound and expression was impressive throughout, as were the difficult fugal lines that weaved their way through the vocal sections with ease. Their bright dotted rhythms were crisp. The “Hallelujah Chorus”, which the audience stood up for, (a novelty for the first timers in the audience) and the final Amen enveloped the audience with full force and strength.
Contrasting with the colour of the choir were the soloists who sang on the stage behind the orchestra, at times making it difficult to hear them. On the other hand, Penelope Mills was jaw-dropping whenever she sang so very softly but with clarity and beauty that I am sure could be heard in the very back row. Mills is a soprano well known to the Sydney Philharmonia Choir audiences and audiences across Australia and New Zealand. Louis Hurley, a Sydney-based tenor, sang effortlessly with a velvety secure tone, and bass-baritone Christopher Richardson sang with conviction and drama.
Australian Margaret Plummer, mezzo-soprano, is a freelance artist living in Vienna who has sung all over the world and was engaged as a principal artist at the Vienna State Opera for seven years. Previous to that she sang with Opera Australia. Plummer sang with sensitivity and a beautiful tone, especially in her lower range.
The Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra superbly supported the singers in a typical Baroque period combination of instruments. The two trumpeters and timpanist went on and off the stage as needed and the harpsichord played an important role for the essential Baroque sound.
As his final conducting engagement before retiring after a career spanning 40 years, Sydney-born maestro Graham Abbott, an internationally acclaimed and respected Handel specialist, was guest conductor. He has overseen the first Australian performances of many of Handel’s major works –such as Athalia, Ariodante Agrippina and La resurrezione, and in 2016 led hundreds of singers taking part in Sydney Philharmonia Choirs ChorusOz weekend, performing Israel in Egypt, in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
In his retirement, he plans to concentrate on his diverse speaking and teaching work. Abbott announced that “The three Messiah performances I’m conducting for the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs this Christmas, will be a lovely way to draw a line under this part of my professional life after some fifty years of waving my arms about, forty of those professionally”.
With these three performances, Abbott will have conducted Messiah an incredible eighty-one times over five decades! With his stylish conduct using an economy of movement, Abbott communicates the wonder of Handel’s skill as a dramatic composer, focusing on the power and drama of the work.
At the conclusion, the audience showed their appreciation of what Abbott and all the performers shared with us by cheering, whistling, thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
A sold-out performance, a timeless masterpiece that evokes a vast range of emotions, a community choir and a grand display of singing -what more could you ask for on a warm and sunny day at the Sydney Opera House?
