G.F. Handel - Messiah
One of the most exciting concerts I've ever seen, of any genre, @solomonsknot. Handel in a church on a friday night - it's the new raving @robinnortonhale
A Messiah like no other - crystalline clarity, perfect ensemble and energetic team-work, ingenious a capella choruses which revealed the interweaving contrapuntal lines. A stellar performance Audience member
To produce a wholly new version of Messiah is remarkable in itself but to infuse it with such engagement, commitment, imagination, thoughtfulness, understanding, sensitivity, tension, energy, contrast, taste (especially re ornaments) - deserved the ovation you got and more Audience member & Handel expert
The drama was often greater than in performances using larger forces Audience member
The highlight of my Christmas Performer
Project overview
Messiah was the piece with which we first experimented with two-to-a-part performing forces, no conductor, and (later) singing from memory. Handel's performing forces in Dublin especially point to a smaller ensemble, and the flexibility and directness which this allows changed the way that Solomon's Knot approaches music.
Project repertoire & personnel ("chamber" version, performed from 2011)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Messiah HWV56
2 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 1 'cello ~ double bass ~ 1 bassoon ~ 2 trumpets ~ timpani ~ theorbo ~ harpsichord/organ
Performances
December 2008. Trinity College, Cambridge (conducted by Jonathan Sells)
December 2009. Trinity College, Cambridge (conducted by Jonathan Sells)
December 2011. St John's Smith Square, London
November 2012. Trinity College, Cambridge
December 2012. St John's Smith Square, London review
December 2014. St John's Smith Square, London
June 2017. Dom, Halle, Germany (Händel-Festspiele Halle) [Dublin version, 1742]
June 2017. Regensburg, Germany (Tage Alter Musik) [Dublin version, 1742] Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mittelbayerische, Onetz.de, BR Klassik
A Messiah like no other - crystalline clarity, perfect ensemble and energetic team-work, ingenious a capella choruses which revealed the interweaving contrapuntal lines. A stellar performance Audience member
To produce a wholly new version of Messiah is remarkable in itself but to infuse it with such engagement, commitment, imagination, thoughtfulness, understanding, sensitivity, tension, energy, contrast, taste (especially re ornaments) - deserved the ovation you got and more Audience member & Handel expert
The drama was often greater than in performances using larger forces Audience member
The highlight of my Christmas Performer
Project overview
Messiah was the piece with which we first experimented with two-to-a-part performing forces, no conductor, and (later) singing from memory. Handel's performing forces in Dublin especially point to a smaller ensemble, and the flexibility and directness which this allows changed the way that Solomon's Knot approaches music.
Project repertoire & personnel ("chamber" version, performed from 2011)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Messiah HWV56
2 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 1 'cello ~ double bass ~ 1 bassoon ~ 2 trumpets ~ timpani ~ theorbo ~ harpsichord/organ
Performances
December 2008. Trinity College, Cambridge (conducted by Jonathan Sells)
December 2009. Trinity College, Cambridge (conducted by Jonathan Sells)
December 2011. St John's Smith Square, London
November 2012. Trinity College, Cambridge
December 2012. St John's Smith Square, London review
December 2014. St John's Smith Square, London
June 2017. Dom, Halle, Germany (Händel-Festspiele Halle) [Dublin version, 1742]
June 2017. Regensburg, Germany (Tage Alter Musik) [Dublin version, 1742] Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mittelbayerische, Onetz.de, BR Klassik
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Recording from live performance of chamber Messiah in St John's Smith Square, London, December 2011. Solomon Knot, dir. Jonathan Sells
Recording and mastering by Alex Barnes www.appleandbiscuit.com |