Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Penelope Shumate, soprano; Teresa Buchholz, mezzo-soprano;John McVeigh, tenor; Christopher Job, Bass-Baritone
Distinguished Concerts Singers International; Distinguished Concerts Orchestra
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
December 1, 2019
On Sunday afternoon, Maestro Jonathan Griffith led his enormous army of choristers and orchestra as Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presented their annual New York presentation of Sir Eugene Goossens’ arrangement of Handel’s eternal Messiah—a version I like to call “refurbished,” not necessarily “refreshed.” This is not a Messiah for the persnickety purist (which I’m not!). Griffith has an international reputation with this particular version; he just recorded it this past summer with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the same group that occasioned this version.
I have reviewed this production several times previously in these pages, always with pleasure, so I will spare the reader a lengthy discussion of the work’s origins, issues, and musical analyses. There were superb program notes by Andrew Stewart that really plumbed the depths of the sometimes quite wild story of how this arrangement was made. It turns out that Goossens was prosecuted, convicted in absentia, and fined for possession of pornographic materials in his luggage, by Australian authorities, causing his resignation from the Sydney Symphony and a precipitous career decline. Thus, Beecham’s commission of the arrangement for purposes of a recording was practically a relief effort! Furthermore, the arrangement has a complicated provenance leading to its rediscovery about 20 years ago.
DCINY sure knows how to gild a lily, however. Despite the two hour, twenty-two minute length of Messiah (only seven numbers cut, four from Part 3, three from Part 2), the concert was preceded by a half-hour of handbell music, traditional Christmas carols and hymns, arranged by Phillip Wayne and conducted by Kevin McChesney. Nothing says “holiday” like bell-ringing, and it was cheery. However, I may have preferred silence in order to contemplate the enormous work that lie ahead.
Messiah….Refreshed! Photo Credit Dan Wright Photography/DCINY Productions
On this date, the rendition was not as fine-tuned as I have come to expect from this conductor and his group. Perhaps there was insufficient rehearsal time; logistics for these events must be a nightmare. There were choirs from all over the United States, and even United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Hong Kong, and India, as well as individual singers from around the globe. Griffith’s conducting is beyond reproach, but with hundreds of singers, the choral coloratura and diction both became quite fuzzy. Three of the four reliable soloists nearly came to grief with ensemble discrepancies—they seemed to want to take extra time, while Griffith pressed ahead.
In fact, the predominant issue for me was Griffith’s almost “apologizing” for the inflation of the work—his tempi really were pushed too fast, which would have been all right with a “historically informed performance” sized choir. I often found myself wishing for him to really go “grand” and broaden tempi, even more than the grand effects called for by Goossens. The several hundred singers were swapped out for several hundred others for the second half of the performance; and the balcony choirs were grand, thrilling the unsuspecting audience in Hallelujah and Worthy is the lamb that was slain. In Griffith’s recent recording, the choir is substantially smaller. Also, when performed in the United States, can we please dispense with the custom of standing for Hallelujah? We have no king, and besides, who knows why the original king stood up—perhaps his gout was bothering him during an exceptionally long afternoon of oratorio.
The orchestra, composed of the best New York area freelancers, helmed by concertmaster Jorge Ávila, was excellent. There were two annoying factors, neither of which was their fault, but rather Goossens’. One: the cymbal crashes—they’ve got to go. Two: I was able to hear many superfluous extra contrapuntal lines in continuo arias, presumably Goossens’ creation, filling in what should have been ensemble rests—it was if he didn’t trust the power of silence. The Pifa (“pastoral symphony”) was radiantly beautiful.
Tenor John McVeigh was often sharp on this occasion, though his sound is sweetly lyrical. Griffith conducted all the tenor arias at quite a clip. Bass-baritone Christopher Job has the bright sonority that makes Thus saith the Lord work well, but I wished for more attention to the word “darkness” in For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and The people that walked in darkness, both of which lacked mystery. Everything was the same color. I’ve always wondered why there can’t be more than one low male voice soloist in Messiah. Why do the nations so furiously rage together? and The trumpet shall sound suited him very well. The clarino trumpet solo was excellent there as well. Mezzo-soprano Teresa Buchholz poured her honeyed sonority over her solos, with great sincerity, though with this arrangement she was often hard to hear. I don’t know if the omission of the middle section of the gorgeous He was despised is due to Goossens, but it robs the aria of proportion and drama. Only soprano Penelope Shumate escaped most of these pitfalls, with bright, clear sound, excellent diction, real emotional involvement, and spot-on coloratura, though again there could have been more variety of color and attention to soft dynamics.
The choir’s finest moments were in the monumental series of three choruses: Surely he hath borne our griefs, And with his stripes we are healed, and All we like sheep have gone astray. Griffith also drew out delectable nuance on the word “light,” with his forces observing the diminuendo in His yoke is easy, and his burthen is light.
Handel really knew how to write a show-stopper, and Hallelujah had its thrilling impact, as did Worthy is the lamb, both of which showed finely detailed contrasts in dynamics.
So, the holidays really are upon us, and we must be grateful for the dedication shown not only by Griffith, but by his numerous participants who come from all over the world to create beauty, and to DCINY for continuing to provide quality music of all types.
