Dunedin Consort: Handel’s Messiah

Perth Concert Hall - 19/12/23

Dunedin Consort | John Butt, director & harpsichord | Anna Dennis, soprano | Bethany Horak-Hallett, mezzo-soprano | Anthony Gregory, tenor | Matthew Brook, baritone

I will always number myself among those for whom The Dunedin Consort’s annual oratorio tour is an unmissable ‘seasonal treat’.  Regular readers will also be aware of my affection for Perth Concert Hall and my delight in hearing the same affection expressed openly by many performers. This year’s tour of abridged Messiah matinees curated for children of all ages and full night-time performances included Perth mid-tour, so picking the Gannochy for my review was a bit of a no-brainer for me.

The line-up of performers, directed from a standing position at a virginals-style small harpsichord by John Butt, was similar to what I saw in The Queen’s Hall last year. The twelve singers, three of each voice, included the four soloists. The gut-stringed instruments numbered three of each violin line, two each of violas and cellos, and a double bass. This year we had not just one but two baroque trumpets in D, with small timpani and a portable continuo organ completing the instrumental ensemble. The ensemble sound was as rich as ever, but what really blew me away was the persuasive expression in the choral lines and the directness of the storytelling, especially the altos.  “And all flesh shall see it together” – they sounded like they were seeing it then and there and sure we were seeing it too.  “For unto us a child is born” – communicated breathless excitement and thrill like they really believed it.  All the big choruses were thrilling and dramatic: ‘And the Glory of the Lord’, ‘Glory to God in the Highest’, ‘All We, Like Sheep’, ‘Lift Up Your Heads’, ‘Hallelujah!’ and, of course, ‘Worthy is the Lamb’ and the final ‘Amen’.  But the biggest goosebumps were delivered by “For unto us …”.  And nobody sang “unto wus”, which is always a bonus.

English soprano Anna Dennis was entrusted with communicating the joy and wonder of the narrative and repaid Handel’s trust manifold.  She was already on my radar as a superb interpreter of Mozart and an engagingly communicative performer with sweet tone and crystal-clear diction, as well as phenomenal vocal agility, having heard her perform Constanze’s arias from ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’ with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Mozart’s C-minor Mass with the Dunedin Consort last year.  I was particularly impressed with the fact that, although she held the score open in her hands, her eyes were on the audience throughout her solos, engagingly persuasive and communicative.  I am no kind of believer, but Anna’s ‘Come Unto Him, All Ye that Labour’, and ‘I Know that My Redeemer Liveth’, if anything could, might ‘turn’ me.  Her agile ornamentation in ‘Rejoice Greatly’ made me feel it would be rude not to.

This was my first encounter with mezzo-soprano Bethany Horak-Hallett and it was very much another case of trust handsomely repaid, this time with the solo alto line’s more dramatic and revelatory elements.  ‘But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming’ was wonderfully expressive and dramatic, but never unsubtle.  Warm rich tone with dynamic control and great clarity of diction drew the listener in to the narrative.  Last year, I was comprehensively wowed by the pathos of Helen Charlston’s guilt-laden reading of ‘He Was Despised and Rejected of Men’.  Bethany’s pathos was as tangible, but more empathetic and suffused with tenderness, anticipating the message of the Third Part.  I am equally captivated by both artists and look forward to their future work (though admittedly it was Helen that blew me away with her stage presence last year).  It intrigues me to muse on which Handel himself would have preferred.

English tenor Anthony Gregory, whose charismatic Almaviva in Scottish Opera’s Barber of Seville 8 weeks ago won my praise, has a voice with a gloriously rich timbre that I will never tire of hearing.  It was tasked with delivering the central message of hope and, from the first words of ‘Comfort Ye My People’, that’s exactly what it did.  But there are also consciences to be pricked and ‘Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart’ was chillingly operatic as was the following aria, reminding us that Handel’s skills were honed on Opera Seria.  The duet with Bethany in Part Three, ‘O Death, Where is Thy Sting?’ was magical.  I was intending to skip mentioning a wee bugbear of diction, but I feel now, in the context of overall praise, I will let it past my self-censorship, as it was neither extreme nor blatant, but nor was it absent, and it is so easily fixed: the issue of ‘extraneous aitches’.  It would be an exaggeration to write it as “Ev’ry vahilly shahall be exawhawlted”, but, as I say, it is easily fixed and so much better to be nipped in the bud.  It in no way marred my enjoyment of that glorious voice.

It was English bass-baritone Matthew Brook that featured on the Dunedin Consort’s 2007 Gramophone Award-winning recording of the Messiah and, as ever, he assuredly delivered the darker elements of the narrative and its message.  Handel gives a wealth of dramatic goodies to the bass: ‘Thus saith the Lord of Hosts’, ‘Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together?’ and ‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’.  Matthew brought an impressive dynamic range to these, with agile and elegant ornamentation, never at the expense of the clarity of the melodic line or the diction.

Overall, this was a Messiah that emphasised the storytelling aspects and the message of hope.  As I set off on the journey home, I caught the end of the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of the BBC Singers with the Britten Sinfonia and soloists (with Helen Charlston as alto solo) of the Mozart version of Handel’s Messiah from the Barbican recorded earlier in the month.  Very nice, but I think the Dunedin Consort’s version was better.