The Temple Festival ended a fine week with Messiah but this was anything but a conventional performance. King George always complained about Handel having too many fiddles so we can assume he would have enjoyed this arrangement by Stian Aareskjold for wind band and continuo.
This was as a result of a link between the Norwegian Wind Ensemble and the BBC Singers, for which this Messiah was a return visit.
While much of the accompaniment sounded surprisingly close to the original there were many moments which suddenly came to life in a new way – the saxophone solo in O thou that tellest; the Bach-like intensity of the solo flute and continuo in If God be for us – and the use throughout of the variant versions of individual items, all kept us on our toes.
A brisk overture led to an intense reading of Every valley from tenor Samuel Boden and a crisp first chorus from the BBC Singers. Celebrating their 90th anniversary the BBC Singers were in excellent voice, the diction carrying easily across the Temple Church even at high speed.
David Hill takes a strongly narrative approach to his performance, building from a fast moving but somewhat reserved start to an ecstatic outpouring at the Hallelujah chorus which continues right up to the end. Adding in the organ during the Amen chorus was a stroke of genius, giving that final lift – and gravitas from the pedal – which brought the evening to a triumphant close.
Along the way there had been many splendid musical moments. Soprano Fflur Wyn was delicate for the angels at Christmas and radiant in I Know that my Redeemer liveth. Counter-tenor Robin Blaze sang the solo version of He shall feed his flock mellifluously, and the duet and chorus version of O Death, where is thy sting? Samuel Boden’s finely-focussed tenor brought us the alternative version of Their sound is gone out and a spikey attack in All they that see him. Mark Stone was a late replacement as Bass soloist and brought real authority to his arias. His commanding performance of The trumpet shall sound really deserved applause for that one aria alone.
There is no such thing as a definitive Messiah but this was certainly among the most enjoyable I have encountered for some while.