Review: Messiah, Barbican Hall, London
ClassicalSource, David Truslove
For this bumper Handel Messiah not a single note was missing; William Christie included every chorus and recitative .... It was luxury to have two sopranos who shared the arias. Emmanuelle de Negri was notably radiant in ‘Rejoice greatly’ and well-suited to ‘Thou art gone up on high’, usually assigned to an alto. Katherine Watson took on ‘How beautiful are the feet’ and created an eloquent partnership with the leader and two continuo-players. But it was her rendition of ‘I know that my redeemer liveth’ that took the palm, wedding glorious tone to musical intelligence. It was breathtaking.
N.B. 6 Performances: 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 December
Handel's Messiah
Dir. William Christie
Soloists
Katherine Watson
Emmanuelle de Negri
Tim Mead
Sam Boden
Konstantin Wolff
Performances
9th - Baden Baden
11th - Versailles
13th - Paris
15th - Barcelona
17th - Budapest
19th - London