Last week, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra gave five performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. The Wednesday performance was at St. Mary Catholic Faith Community; Thursday (which I heard) was at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist; the remaining performances were at the Basilica of St. Josaphat.
Former MSO Associate Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong found good tempos for the faster movements, which usually settled into a Baroque groove, but I found some of the slower tempos less convincing. Some of the recitatives, such as those sung by the tenor soloist in Part II, seemed exaggerated and labored. To be fair, Lecce-Chong doesn’t claim to be a Baroque specialist. It was obvious that he had some definite ideas. In general, the performance needed more crispness and detailed articulation. The pacing was questionable at times, with pauses between some movements that felt too long.
Soprano soloist Maeve Höglund’s fresh voice was beguiling. She sings with effortless sound that has natural nobility about it. With a voice of attractive color and agility, bass-baritone Michael Dean created engaging renditions of “Why do the nations so furiously rage?” and “The trumpet shall sound” with authority. It was a pleasure to hear David Cohen, associate principal trumpet, so stylishly render the long solo in the latter. Marjorie Maltais was lovely in the mezzo-soprano solos, though her voice sounded as if it would be happier in a higher range. Though he has a pleasing tone, tenor soloist William Ferguson struggled with pitch at times.
Approximately 60 members of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus often created a very good ensemble, sounding attractive and buoyant in many of the fleet movements. The tenor section was a bit vague in soft, exposed stretches. It’s not easy to take a portion of a large chorus principally designed for large-scale romantic works and make it a Baroque chamber choir.
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It’s irresistible to think about what the MSO will do for holiday season programming when―fingers crossed―it has its own hall in the Grand Theatre as early as 2019, with the complete freedom of scheduling. My guess is that Messiah will remain part of the mix.
