Handel: Messiah - The Evening Standard
Smith Square's Christmas Festival ended as it had begun, with an excellent concert by a young and vital choir. The London Adventist Chorale was followed by Polyphony, whose Messiah last Saturday was vivid, fresh and moving - and you cannot say that about most renditions of the nation's most popular oratorio.
Part I, Christ's birth and ministry, was sung in under 50 minutes which may have been a world record. It was achieved by crisp singing, agile playing by Polyphony's own orchestra and no faffing about between numbers. Recitatives, arias and choruses succeeded each other with minimal rallentando and infinitesimal breaks. It came over as a story being told rather than a succession of set pieces.
Founder and conductor Stephen Layton was responsible. He made it look a piece of cake. He never once wiped his brow. "His yoke is easy and His burthen is light" sang the choir, skippingly under his control. He saved energy often by beating at one in a bar, which is more difficult but gives bounce.
How would the Amen fare after the Hallelujah Chorus? This is always the test. Layton allowed his wonderful choir - its core dominated by a line of proud countertenors - to do the opening fugal salvo a capella and then battered the audience from behind with St John's new £800,000 Johannes Klais organ during the final tutti. It was a fitting climax.
The most sublime moments belonged to the tenor, Ian Bostridge, who is on the verge of a big career. Time stood still in accusation when he sang "but there was no man, neither found He any".
The others were better known and sang with familiar character - Kirkby with the agility of a canary, Wilson-Johnson with corpulent authority, Bowman without looking at his copy. Just as there was no room at the inn, there was no room on stage, so they sat behind a pillar, emerging only to sing individual arias. One felt short-changed by this as one likes to have the soloists on display for the whole show, but it did have the effect of throwing more of the spotlight on Polyphony who shone.
Rick JonesSee concert details...