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Brott Messiah enthralls

Arcady choir a “lovely Christmas present”

By Hugh Fraser

I think I have just heard the best performance of Handel's Messiah ever to whisk past my ears and this after years and years of attending Hamilton's Yearly Yule Yells.

It is hard to be sure, of course, because the years grow long and memory dim but Boris Brott, his National Academy Orchestra gathered up four outstanding soloists for a performance that had me simply thrilled to be present in Christ's Church Cathedral Saturday night.

Brott has often rushed Messiah off His feet. I have attended performances where the axles were smoking and have even seen the odd wheel come off. What I realized Saturday night was all he needed was a Ferrari for his yearly Messiah and not Santa's sleigh.

The Ferrari was the in the form of the choir, Arcady. When Brott set the tempo at Minus Mercy they didn't hurry, they didn't even scurry - there simply wasn't a scamper in them. Every phrase was deliciously poised, elegantly balanced, intelligently and most musically shaped and with a sound, projection and focus that was absolutely awe inspiring. I wanted to give a standing ovation to Unto Us and His Yoke Is Easy but had to be content with the quite inadequate and whispered "WOW! or a more appropriate and profoundly felt "Good Lord!" when the singing simply passed man's understanding.

I found the soloists an accomplished and delightful quartet of superb singers.

I was much taken with Mia Lennox-Williams' dark, velvety alto. She did not spit out He Was Despised in anger but floated on what seemed an infinite sea of gentle, profound sorrow which she communicated brilliantly. Baritone Gregory Dahl was poised, full-voiced and full of authority and handled a skimming Why Do The Nations with such ease and elegance that he could pour his entire being into the music.

Soprano Jacqueline Woodley was full of sweetness and lightness of being and decorated her lines to telling effect. Tenor Christopher Fischer was the one who gave us the anger. He almost shouted his outrage in Thou Shalt Break Them, which was fitting and sang with lament, glistening sorrow in a very moving Behold and See and Thy Rebuke has Broken his Heart.

The National Academy did very nicely and trumpeter Mark Dharmaratnam was brilliant in the Trumpet Shall Sound - he is the son of legendary Hamilton music teacher Mr. D. (the kids could never get their tongues around his Tamil name and dubbed him thus) who came to Hamilton after being the conductor of the Sri Lankan Navy Band. I digress, but since Sri Lanka is my native land, though no more my home, I was very pleased by it all.

But thank you everyone for that choir. It was a lovely Christmas present.