Handel’s ‘Messiah’
Usher Hall - 2/1/ 2025
Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, director Michael Bawtree
The annual New Year concert of Handel’s ‘Messiah’, performed in the Usher Hall by the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, is one of the highlights of each Festive Season, and, having sung as a chorus bass in 1973 and as bass soloist in 1984, I have great affection for this slice of Edinburgh history.
I can report that the 2025 edition was not a vintage performance, but the full house at the Usher Hall was treated to a well-crafted and solidly breezy account of Handel’s great masterpiece, reminding us once again what a miracle of composition this is.
Established in 1858, ERCU has been an integral part of music-making in the city ever since, and under the direction of Michael Bawtree since 2005, it continues to be one of the finest amateur choirs in Scotland.
‘Messiah’ has been performed regularly ever since it was first heard in Dublin in 1742, and indeed this was the 137th performance of the oratorio by ERCU at New Year in Edinburgh! It has been performed in a variety of styles, and still receives quite different renditions around the world. In Scotland, in the last month, the Dunedin Consort have given their early music version at Baroque pitch and with reduced numbers, and, only three hours after the ERCU Messiah in the Usher Hall, the RSNO and the RSNO Chorus were performing the work on a larger scale in the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.
Having sung the bass solos multiple times in my performing career, including a Deutsche Grammophon recording with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre, it still remains one of my favourite works and this performance at the Usher Hall had many aspects to commend it. I was a little concerned last year that Mr Bawtree had pushed the speeds occasionally beyond the capabilities of his amateur chorus, perhaps in pursuit of an authentically baroque style, but this year, I was very happy with the overall pace of the performance. The chorus never seemed to be struggling to keep up, and the solos went at a good speed, both for singing and listening. One can usually tell from the overture, with its slow opening followed by a fast section, whether a performance will achieve the right balance in terms of speeds throughout, and I thought the overture was terrific. The Edinburgh Pro Musica Orchestra, led with sparkling virtuosity by Greg Lawson, was on scintillating form, playing with a crispness which revealed a deep understanding of baroque style and practice, and Mr Bawtree’s balletic conducting kept everyone on their toes, but also allowed the biblical story to be revealed in all its glory. Whatever your faith or lack of it, the story of the foretelling of Jesus’s birth, the birth itself (making Messiah the perfect Christmas piece), the betrayal and the crucifixion (making it a pretty good Easter piece too!), and then the mystery and wonder of the Resurrection, all this combines to form a marvellous narrative. The genius of Charles Jennens’ original text has given the world a masterpiece through Handel’s setting, but without Jennens, much would be lost. The enunciation of the text both by the choir and the soloists was exemplary, although the Usher Hall’s fixation with dimming the lights in the auditorium meant that we had to rely more on their diction than reading the words in the programme. That the programmes were provided free of charge was excellent, but the paucity of their numbers was a shame.
It was lovely to see a nice young quartet of soloists, all of whom seemed to be either Scottish or to have studied in Scotland.
Jerome Knox studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has appeared with Scottish Opera. He possesses a fine baritone voice, with a robust technique and has some presence on stage. Most of his operatic work so far seems to have been with English Touring Opera, and I feel that he maybe needs to work a bit more on projecting his voice. The Usher Hall has a fabulous acoustic, but the auditorium is vast, and, especially for a lower male voice, subtlety is not needed. The great bass arias in the second half of the concert need serious projection, especially when, in ‘The Trumpet shall Sound’, you are duetting with a trumpet (brilliantly played by Andy Connell-Smith). I always felt I had to give 110% in those arias just to deliver the requisite frissons to the audience. Just a thought! Mr Knox’s coloratura was impeccable and his breathing through long difficult phrases was superb. Definitely one to watch.
Samuel Jenkins, the tenor soloist, also suffered from a projection problem. His first solo, ‘Comfort Ye’, was seriously underpowered, such that I worried he was unwell, and ‘Ev’ry Valley’, the aria he sings before remaining silent for an hour and a half, failed to register fully. I think he was simply a little overawed by the hall, because when he sang again in the second half, he seemed more in control. I see from his biography that he sings a lot with ensembles and is a Vicar Choral with the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, a career which involves blending more than dominating. Certainly, the quotation in his biography referring to a ‘tenor of operatic richness and delectability’ was hard to spot. I don’t mean to be unnecessarily harsh here. This is a young singer with a light tenor voice of a pleasing quality, but he needs to decide whether he wants to be a proper soloist, wowing his fans with thrilling high notes. If so, go for it, young man!
Our contralto soloist was the Welsh singer, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, who demonstrated a voice of good quality with impressive low notes. This has always been a difficult part to cast, as the original singer in 1742, Mrs Susanna Cibber, was an actress who could sing a bit, but mainly in a very low register. This makes it pretty low for a mezzo-soprano, but Ms Afonwy-Jones was well up to the task, and her ‘He was despised’ aria was very beautifully sung.
The revelation for me was the soprano, Emily Mitchell. I have known her for a few years, since we sang together in a Handel oratorio in Glasgow, but I was very impressed with the clarity and projection of her voice in this concert. Her biography alludes to performances of the Countess in ‘Figaro’, Mélisande, Lauretta and Liu, and indeed she is not really an ideal Handel soprano any more. It was still the most polished voice on stage, with an easy top and effortless carry into the big auditorium, and I was delighted to hear her again.
It was a luxury to have Morley Whitehead on the organ and John Kitchen at the harpsichord, and congratulations are due to the ERCU for putting on yet another excellent Messiah. There was a heartfelt plea for tenors and basses in the programme, and it was clear that young male singers are not coming through in sufficient numbers. I’m not sure how we can combat this problem, but it must be fixed, otherwise such concerts will no longer be possible
