The Messiah at the Town Hall

By TARA WERNER

The Messiah may be the best-loved choral work in the English repertoire, but paradoxically it was written when Handel was at one of the lowest ebbs of his career.

Aged 56, Handel was bitterly coping with the failure of his operas. Near bankruptcy he turned to oratorio as another source of income, and there may have been an understandable element of self-pity when he was discovered weeping while composing the music to accompany the words "despised and rejected".

Despite a rather shaky start to her first aria, mezzo-soprano Anne Lamont-Low redeemed herself fully by a moving performance of this section of Handel's masterpiece, singing her embellishments with ease. The other soloists in this Auckland Choral Society performance on Monday night, conducted by Peter Watts, were also somewhat uneven.

While Deborah Wai Kapohe's diction was clearer than the others, her tendency to have excessive vibrato spoiled some otherwise lyrical arias, especially Rejoice Greatly.

Tenor Peter de Blois had a pleasant if light voice, given full expression in the famous Ev'ry Valley, although sometimes he could not be heard above the orchestra in his other arias. Martin Elliott's bass also lacked impact, although he sang a commanding The Trumpet Shall Sound accompanied by trumpet player Philip Lloyd.

Meantime, the various choruses posed few difficulties for the choir, the men being interspersed between sopranos and altos seeming to give the tenors and basses more confidence.

The Pipers Sinfonia played true to period style, with close observation to detail hallmarking their performance.

But, while it had moments of beauty, this Messiah sounded less than inspired overall.