Messiah by George Frederick Handel now has a reputation as an advent composition, but when written it was intended for Lenten performances. Theres also a long-forgotten political purpose behind the oratorio. In an era when there were open battles over which form of Christianity was the right one. Charles Jennens, who compiled Messiahs libretto from the Authorized Version of the Bible, whats commonly called the King James version, supposedly created that as a defense of the Anglican church against deism which was popular in some parts of 18th century English culture. Over the years there have been endless disagreements over how to perform Messiah. Handels version was modified by Mozart who added woodwind parts for instruments not fashionable in Handels time For those over familiar with Messiah, there have been attempts to reinvent the oratorio by turning it into a stage play. A few years ago, Theater an der Wien and Claus Guth, Konrad Kuhn and Christian Schmidt imposed a funeral story on Messiah turning the soloists into actors an d he chorus into stage a performers on a rotating stage. From a short glance, the staged Messiah seemed more clever than effective. The oratorio is so closely associated with its original imposed story that its hard to believe another meaning for the music The really unconventional Messiah came from filmmaker William Klein,who teamed with French baroque specialist Marc Minkowski to make a version that combined a n original instrument interpretation with street performances from untrained musicians, the Klein version turned Messiah into an extended music video, which combined some intensely dramatic orchestral performance s wit violent real-world video that seems lifted from television newscasts. Its a blend of the late David Fanshawes African Sanctums and Benjamin Brittens intensely anti-war War Requiem The linked video comes from the Messiah recording that accompanied the 2001 Klein film. Its an intense operatic performance by the excellent English tenor John Mark Ainsley. Its a revelation for those who expect Messiah to be performed in a gentle, mannered fashion. Ainsley and Minkowski chose to interpret the “thou shalt break them” aria to reflect the literal meaning meaning of the words. Messiah had its premiere in Dublin, Ireland,and theres a tenuous but interesting link between Handel and Irelands great creative force, Bram Stoker . Both Stoker and Handel supposedly spent time in Dublins St. Michans Church, known for its organ and its underground crypt. The the organ supposedly helped Handel compose Messiah and the crypt supposedly inspired Stoker in his composition of Dracula. Neither Messiah nor Dracula have lost their impact on world culture.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:38:51 +0000