The French magazine Diaposon has given a “diapason d’or” to the new recording of Vivaldi’s Ercole sul Termodonte. “Genaux en reine des amazones et Villazon en Hercule, plus Damrau, Jaroussky, Di Donato, Basso, Ciofi, Lehtipuu : le plateau a tout l'air d'une vitrine de Noël, Vivaldi triomphe.”
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Catherine Wyn-Rogers, photo copyright Maura McGroarty
I enjoyed very much a performance of Handel’s Messiah at Symphony Hall in Boston this afternoon. Harry Christophers conducted the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus and soloists Sophie Bevan, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Allan Clayton, and Sumner Thompson. I was happy with every aspect of the performance. I’d say that more than 98% of the seats were occupied. Although the performance was in the afternoon, the men of the orchestra and chorus wore white tie and tails, and soloists Allan Clayton and Sumner Thompson wore black tie and dinner jackets, I don’t know why the difference. It would have been nice to see daytime clothing, but I suppose it may be too much to expect the members of the orchestra and chorus to have two different outfits since the Handel and Haydn Society does not put on very many performances during the year. The women wore evening gowns, except for a few female members of the orchestra who wore black pantsuits.
This was the first time that I have been in Symphony Hall since the fourteen half-moon windows that ring the top balcony have been restored. They had previously always been covered completely during my lifetime, having been covered since some time in the 1940's. The covering may have been connected with precaution for possible air raids during World War II, some say, but I don’t know whether that is true. I can’t imagine how exactly air raids would have been staged on North America at that time, but I’m no expert on history of World War II. Above is a blurry photograph that I took with my mobile telephone during the intermission.
In Part the Second of The Messiah today, a recitative (“He was cut off . . .”) and aria (“But thou didst not leave . . .) were sung by the tenor although the program booklet said that they were to be sung by the soprano. I am not sufficiently erudite to offer any possible explanation. Was it just a typographical error?
Jeremy Eichler reviewed the Friday night performance for the Boston Globe.
