Photo Via Early Music Now - earlymusicnow.org
Bella Voce: "Handel's Complete Messiah"
Hallelujahs will be heard in Milwaukee on the weekend of November 21-23. As in previous seasons, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will perform Handel’s Messiah with its rousing “Hallelujah Chorus.” However, you’ve probably never heard Messiah live as intended by its composer. You’ll have your chance to hear the complete oratorio, all three parts performed on period instruments, at Early Music Now’s November 22 concert.
EMN’s artistic director, Chuck Grosz, recalls hearing Messiah in all its unaltered Baroque splendor years ago in Amsterdam. “I was surprised,” he begins. “After two or three minutes the sound enveloped me. It’s much more human in scale, less percussive, quieter, mellower, more intimate. The music works well with the text with much rounder sounds.”
For the November 22 program, Early Music Now will host Chicago’s Bella Voce Sinfonia and the Bella Voce Chorus. Based in Chicago, their members are esteemed for their musicianship and are in demand across North America for early music concerts. “They are a Handel-sized orchestra,” Grosz says. “Four violins, two cellos, one bass, a harpsichord …” Twenty members in all, plus a chorus of 24. In Handel’s day, his compositions were performed in the close settings of churches and salons. Concerts were intimate. Post-Mozart, classical music shifted to larger concert halls, necessitating bigger orchestra and booming sonics. The soft-spoken harpsichord was supplanted by the louder grand piano. Even violins and cellos grew larger in size in the 19th century. Bella Voce Sinfonia is as close as possible to the ensemble at Messiah’s 1742 debut in Dublin.
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Like Bach, Handel was incredibly prolific and often worked on deadlines. “He borrowed from himself, yet he sounded perpetually fresh,” Grosz says. “You might think there’s a formula but then he’ll surprise you. His music was just good—not just the melodies but how he handled the melodies. The harmonic progressions don’t sound calculated—they’re always based on the human heart and the human ear.”
As far as Grosz knows, this will be the first time Messiah has been performed in its entirety in Milwaukee. “Experience history by hearing a well-known warhorse in a new way,” he adds.
Early Music Now presents Bella Voce Sinfonia and Bella Voce Chorus performing Messiah at 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22 at St. Joseph’s Chapel, 1515 S. Layton Blvd. For tickets and more information, visit earlymusicnow.org.
