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George Frideric HANDEL (1685 - 1759): Messiah (version 1741) (HWV 56)
[I] "Messiah, Early Version 1741"
Viola Blache, soprano;
Stefanie Schaefer, contralto;
Fabian Kelly, tenor;
Julian Dominique Clement, bass
Gutenberg-Kammerchor; Neumeyer Consort
Dir: Felix Koch
rec: April 24 - 26, 2021 & May 20 - 24, 2022, Saulheim, Sängerhalle
Rondeau - ROP622324 (© 2023) (2.20'21")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: D
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Ina Stock, Shogo Fujii, oboe;
Clemens Schlemmer, Barbara Meditz, bassoon;
Michael Maisch, Ute Hübner, trumpet;
Mónica Waisman, Barbara Mauch-Heinke, Judith Freise, Wonki Kim, Liuba Petrova, Jonas Zschenderlein, Xin Wei, Anna Kaiser, Lucia Ahn, violin;
Christiane Schmidt, Francesca Venturi, Yoko Tanaka-Zschenderlein, viola;
Daniela Wartenberg, Sophie Herr, cello;
Ichiro Noda, Matthias Scholz, double bass;
Markus Stein, harpsichord;
Jonathan Kreuder, organ;
Heidi Merz, timpani
[II] "Messiah - Original version 1741"
Kara McBain, Hayden Smith, soprano;
Dianna Grabowski, contralto;
Dann Coakwell, tenor;
David Grogan, bass
The Dallas Bach Society Chorus & Orchestra
Dir: James Richman
rec: Dec 20 - 21, 2023 & Jan 21 - 22, 2024, Dallas, TX, Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Onyx Classics - ONYX 4255 (© 2024) (2.23'33")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - translations: D
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Andrew Blanke, Sarah Huebsch, oboe;
Kelsey Schilling, Sally Merriman, bassoon;
Eric Larsen, John Timpani, trumpet;
Ha Viet Dang, Thane Isaac, Michelle Hanlon, Victoria Klaunig, Emma Milian, Stephanie Noori, Sarah O’Neill, Karim Ayala Pool, violin;
Miriam Oddie, Brittney Geurink, Jorge Luis Zapata Marin, viola;
Katie Rietman, Christopher Phillpott, Sydney ZumMallen, cello;
Randy Inman, violone;
Arash Noori, theorbo;
James Richman, harpsichord;
Joseph Butler, organ;
Ashley Westgate, timpani
The oratorio Messiah is one of George Frideric Handel's most popular works. Even more, it is one of the great monuments of music history, which is performed each year across the world. Handel performed it always during Lent, but in our time it has become a work of all seasons, although it is mostly performed during Advent. Its first performance in Dublin in 1742 was received with great enthusiasm, but Messiah encountered strong resistance when it was performed later in London. Even so, the admirers won the battle, witness the number of performances during Handel's own life.
The latter is one of the problems for performers of our time. In Handel's days, works of such a scale - whether oratios or operas - were seldom revived unaltered. Composers were pragmatic, and adapted their works to different circumstances, whether the venue or the performings forces that were available to them. As a result there is no such a thing as the 'definitive' version of Messiah. Although the various versions have been sorted out and are available to performers, most of them opt for a kind of pasticcio, consisting of elements of the various versions. What we mostly hear today is a version that Handel has never performed himself.
The recordings which are the subject of this review concern a version which is based on Handel's autograph of 1741. This may seem to be a good alternative to the pasticcio versions mostly performed today. That is not the case, though: this is also a version that Handel never has performed himself. Even before the first performance in Dublin he had to make some adaptations. There is probably no reason to assume that Handel did so willy-nilly. In the liner-notes to James Richman's recording, Malcolm Bruno, the editor of the performing edition of the 1741 version, states that the lack of a 'final version' is "in large measure (...) due to Handel's attitude to his autograph – viewing it as an initial vision, as a wellspring of ideas – and one that could be freely adapted to the requirements of individual performances." Handel was not just forced to adapt the music to the singers available, he may have been happy to do so, as - in accordance with his instincts as an opera composer - he was always keen to use vocal talents when they crossed his path.
The recording under the direction of Felix Koch claimes to be the world premiere recording of this version. However, almost twenty years ago the American Bach Soloists, directed by Jeffrey Thomas, released a recording of it. I have never heard it and have no access to the booklet to that recording, but it may be different from what we have here. These two recordings are based on the performing edition by Malcolm Bruno which appeared in 2018 and therefore was not available to Thomas. In the booklet to Koch's recording Bruno explains that the autograph leaves some questions to be answered. "Creating a new critical performing edition of Handel's 1741 autograph is, however, not just a simple matter of deriving a modernised facsimile from Handel's manuscript pages. A great deal is implied and not immediately visible in Handel's very swiftly written original. Many answers to questions of orchestration - where, for example, as members of the "tutti bassi", do the celli play, where are they tacet, where would violas have played col basso? – are not contained in a literal
reading of the autograph, but to be decided by an understanding of the size and conventions of Handel's London orchestra. Another significant challenge is a reconstruction of the much-discussed wind parts. Although the autograph has no mention of them, we know from
Handel's revisions made in 1745 that winds (oboes and bassoons) had been an important part from the beginning." This suggests that those who use the autograph as the basis of a performance, may take different decisions in these matters. Obviously, performers who take Bruno's performing edition as their starting point, may look at the autograph themselves and have different views on the issues that Bruno mentions. The liner-notes don't include any indications that the respective conductors have taken different decisions in these matters.
Let's have a look at the main differences between the 1741 version and what has become the 'standard version'. The differences mainly concern the arias, whereas the choruses are largely the same. That is understandable as the arias are very dependent on which singers were available at a specific occasion. The first difference regards the aria 'But who may abide'; this is mostly performed in a virtuosic version for alto, but here it is a less challenging and more straightforward version for bass (although certainly not easy, considering the coloratura on "fire"). This has much logic, as the preceding recitative 'Thus saith the Lord' is also for bass. For some performances Handel indicated that a treble had to sing (indicated as 'The Boy'), such as here in the sequence of recitatives following the Pifa, beginning with 'There were shepherds abiding in the field'. A further difference in Part I regards the soprano aria 'Rejoice greatly', which is longer as it has a full dacapo repeat. And then, before the closing chorus of this part, 'He shall feed his flock' is a solo for alto rather than a duet of soprano and alto.
In Part II the first difference is the arioso 'Behold and see', which is mostly sung by a tenor, but here allocated to a treble. Next the aria 'Thou art gone up on high', which is usually sung by an alto; here it is for bass. The soprano aria 'How beautiful are the feet' is different from the 'standard version': rather than a short aria, followed by the chorus 'Their sound is gone out', it is here an aria with full dacapo repeat; the text of the chorus is incorporated in it as the B section.
The differences in Part III concern the aria 'The trumpet shall sound' which has a full dacapo repeat, and the duet 'O death, where is thy sting', which has sixteen bars that are omitted in the 'standard version'.
Given the popularity of Messiah it may be a little surprising that to date the performing edition of the 1741 edition has only been used for two recordings. Likewise, other versions are also seldom performed and recorded. The popularity of this work may be one of the explanations. The standard version is so much loved that audiences may not appreciate anything that is different from what they love to hear, and as a result few conductors may feel the need to turn to a different version. From that angle Felix Koch and James Richman deserve praise that they decided to record the 1741 version and make it being released. How hard it is to derive from tradition is shown by Richman in his liner-notes to his recording. He describes the structure of the oratorio and writes: "Only a soprano – as angel messenger – remains to sing 'Rejoice greatly' (Book of Zachariah), joined then by the alto for 'He shall feed His Flock' (...)". This is probably taken from the programme notes to previous live performances, as in this version 'He shall feed his flock' is a solo for alto.
It is obvious to compare the two recordings. There are a few discrepancies between the two performances, which cannot be explained from different decisions with regard to the aspects Malcolm Bruno referred to. The first is a matter of choice: in Richman's performance the recitatives and the aria marked in the score with 'The Boy' are sung by a treble; Koch has ignored this indication. However, whereas the recitatives (There were shepherds etc) are sung by the soprano, the aria 'Behold and see' (28) is allocated to the tenor rather than the soprano; one wonders why. Also questionable is that in Richman's recording the Pifa takes 48 seconds, whereas Koch has a much longer version (2'13"). As I don't have access to the performing edition, I can't check who follows the score.
If we look at the line-up, there are few differences. The choirs are almost of equal size (Koch 28, Richman 25); only the distribution of the voice sections is slightly different, but that does have no audible effect. The orchestral forces are also comparable: the Neumeyer Consort includes nine violins, three violas, two cellos and two double basses, plus winds, timpani and basso continuo. The Dallas Bach Society Orchestra has eight violins, three violas, three cellos and one violone in its string section. In comparison with many other recordings the instrumental forces are rather modest.
The teams of soloists are different in that Richman has access to singers who are native English speakers, whereas Koch has four German-speaking soloists. The latter's pronunciation is correct, but mostly not really idiomatic. The best of the four is Viola Blache. In the singing of the others one immediately notices that they are no English speakers. In both recordings the singers use modern English. Unfortunately we are still very far away from the application of what is known about the way English was pronounced in Handel's time.
Turning to the actual performances I am sorry to say that neither of the two has really convinced me. The reasons are sometimes the same, and sometimes different. One reason concerns the tempi. The overall duration of the two recordings is not fundamentally different: 2.20' (Koch) vs 2.24' (Richman). However, their tempi in arias and choruses are quite different. Overal, the arias in Koch's performance are slower, whereas he is quicker in the choruses. Take 'But who may abide the day of his coming' in Part I. Koch needs 3'48", Richman just 2'53". Another striking difference is 'He was despised' in Part II. Richman has 8'56", Koch 10'11". The tempo indication is largo, but it is hard to say exactly what that means. The choice of tempi for single pieces cannot be isolated from the context. While listening to the two performances I often felt that Koch's arias are too slow, like Richman's choruses.
In Koch's performances I liked the choruses most. They come off very naturally, thanks to a fine realisation of the rhythmic pulse and a differentiated use of dynamics, with much attention to the difference between good and bad notes. The only problematic part is the 'Halleluja' chorus where the accents on "The kingdom of this world" are nearly staccato, which is not nice. In Richman's performance there are dynamic accents in the choruses too, but as his tempi are mostly slower, these are often halting, on the brink of staccato, and therefore unnatural. The first chorus, 'And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed', shows the difference in tempo: 2'38" (Koch) vs 3'08" (Richman). The closing 'Amen' is another striking example: 3'37" vs 4'45". To be honest, I often found the choruses in Richman's recording rather dull.
The soloists leave a very mixed impression. Stylistically Koch's soloists are the most convincing. They avoid unstylish vibrato, which is a reason to celebrate in itself. None of their four colleagues in Richman's performance are free from it, but - as so often - the soprano and alto are the worst. Viola Blache makes the best impression as far as expression is concerned. 'Rejoice greatly' and 'I know that my Redeemer liveth' are nicely sung. Stefanie Schaefer is disappointing in 'He was despised'; her performance is rather bland, and she does not emphasize key words as "despised" and "rejected". I like her ornamentation, though. Fabian Kelly leaves a mixed impression. The opening recitative and aria are relatively well done, but his recitatives in Part II are not declamatory enough, probably also due to the slowish tempo. Equally uneven is Julian Dominique Clement, whose English I found most unnatural. 'Thou art gone up on high' is rather disappointing; it is like reading the news. In 'The trumpet shall sound' he does much better. Only a few solos I really enjoyed; as I wrote, the choruses are the best part.
Richman uses a treble for the parts marked with 'The Boy'. Hayden Smith, a member of the Choir of Men and Boys at the St. Mark’s School
of Texas has a nice voice, and is technically assured, but his performances are a bit bland. Some choirs from the German speaking world have singers who show that a treble certainly can sing with expression. I was quite happy with Kara McBain's performance of 'Rejoice greatly', and found her incessant but rather narrow vibrato not that much of a problem, but that was different in 'How beautiful are the feet', which I found not easy to swallow. However, in comparison Dianna Grabowski is much worse. Her vibrato destroys 'He was despised', which is short on dynamic differentiation and also lacks expression. The B section is pretty disastrous, vocally and instrumentally. Dann Coakwell has not left much impression, as his singing is a bit bland. The best part is 'Thou shalt break them', where he shows that he has dramatic qualities. David Grogan is not the kind of voice that I find very attractive, but he is the most convincing of the four soloists. Talking about dramatic qualities, he has them in abundance, as he shows in 'Who do the nations so furiously rage together'. His resonant and powerful voice perfectly suits 'The trumpet shall sound'. He is the only reason that I may return now and then to this recording.
All in all, listening to the two recordings of the 1741 version was certainly interesting. It is to be hoped that more performers may consider this version as a good alternative to the traditional pasticcio version, and that audiences are willing to take it as such. At the same time it was a disappointing experience, as neither recording leaves a lasting impression.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)
Relevant links:
Fabian Kelly
Stefanie Schaefer
Neumeyer Consort
The Dallas Bach Society