Seven
Decades Old, Yet Ever New
By
Bryce Christensen
“Christmas,” in the view of Protestant pastor David De Witt,
“is all about tradition.” “No other time
of the year,” De Witt explains, “seems so rich and complete with a special
series of traditions.” For music-lovers
in Cedar City, no Christmas tradition counts for more than the annual holiday
production of Handel’s Messiah. That tradition was once again renewed at the
Heritage Center on the nights of December 9th and 10th as
the Orchestra of Southern Utah and the Southern Utah Chorale combined their talents
to inspire capacity audiences with this seasonal masterpiece. As Orchestra of Southern Utah President
Harold Shirley remarked in introducing Cedar City’s 72nd production
of this sublime work, the Messiah
tells the sacred and timeless Christmas story in a way that will “never grow
old.”
From the majestic opening strains of the “Overture” that
began the work to the magisterial choral Amens that concluded it, the
years—even the decades—melted away, and the impressive brilliance of this
year’s superb production of the Messiah echoed
every excellence attained in previous productions.
Among the nine soloists, two—bass Larry Johnson and soprano
Jan Pressgrove—were mature and seasoned vocalists whose strong performances
reflected many years of musical devotion.
Johnson rendered “Comfort Ye My People” in movingly plaintive tones, and
delivered “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted” in notes tremulous with hope. Pressgrove sang “I Know That My Redeemer
Liveth” as a transcendent testimony, beautifully radiant with conviction.
The other seven soloists—sopranos Shaye Leavitt, Melissa
Leavitt, and Christina Meikle; altos Annie Powell, Laurice Williamson, and Taliah Byers; and
bass Alex Byers—performed with poise and self-possession surprising in
rising young singers.
Leavitt soared to celestial heavens in “There Were Shepherds
Abiding in the Field” and “An Angel Said Unto them,” only to then transport
listeners with “And Suddenly There Was
With the Angelic” in what truly seemed an angelic voice.
In “Come Unto Me,” entranced listeners were enthralled by
Melissa Leavitt’s poignant pleading, the pleading of a divine voice directed to
mortal ears.
In Meikle’s performance of “If God Be For Us” (a wonderful
piece outside of the standard repertoire for an abbreviated version of Handel’s
meisterwerk), listeners marveled at
the luminous flow of divine solace.
Powell’s “Behold! A Virgin Shall Conceive” gave the audience
a distillation of sublime wonder, and her “O Thou That Tellest” offered a
stirring affirmation.
With “The Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be Opened,” Williamson
opened miraculous vistas with notes of liquid grace, a remarkable grace she
sustained as she segued to the pastoral comfort of “He Shall Feed His Flock
Like a Shepherd.”
Taliah Byers’ “”He Was Despised” brimmed with a deeply
moving pathos, a pathos answered by Alex Byers in the profound marvelings of
“Behold, I Tell You a Mystery” and in the forceful assurance of “The Trumpet
Shall Sound.” Etching “The Trumpet Shall
Sound” even more deeply in the memory was Pete Atkins’ penetrating trumpet solo
in this number.
Of course, Atkins was far from the only instrumentalist
whose talents enriched this year’s Messiah
performance. The entire orchestra
sustained a very high level of musicianship throughout the concert. This musicianship was notably evident in the
two numbers—the opening “Overture” and the “Pastoral Symphony”--performed by
the orchestra without the choir. But what listener did not especially
appreciate the irresistible instrumental contribution to the thrilling
crescendos of the chorus numbers, including especially “And the Glory of the
Lord,” “For Unto Us a Child Is Born, and “Hallelujah!”?
Deserving note was not only the manifest skill of the
orchestra instrumentalists but also the unmistakable feeling. This was a
performance by musicians who cared about
the music they played. And in their
emotional investment, listeners detected the most fundamental and important of
the linkages between this year’s Messiah performers
and their predecessors in a vital musical tradition.
The emotion evident in this year’s production of the Messiah radiated out from director and
conductor Xun Sun. Always spirited and
engaged in the music he conducts, Sun appeared singularly impassioned in
leading this performance. And his
passion was contagious. Though deserving
of the attention he received at the performance for having recently completed
his doctorate at Columbia University, Sun—Dr. Sun—conveyed the pulse of this
marvelous Christmas composition with an intensity that will never come out of
merely academic study.
Though less visible during the concert than Sun, chorale
director Kevin Baker likewise deserves praise for his role as the leader of the
chorale for this year’s Messiah. In his first year in this role, Baker somehow
tapped into all of the resources of this much-cherished regional
tradition. Like the orchestra
instrumentalists under Sun’s baton, the chorale singers under Baker’s direction
fused technical mastery with from-the-heart emotion. Whether in the exultant passages of “Lift Up
Your Heads, O Ye Gates,” the strikingly kinetic measures of “Since By Man Came
Death,” or the triumphantly joyous climax of
“”Hallelujah!” the choir sang with skill informed by fervor.
As delighted listeners left the Heritage Center Sunday and
Monday nights, they did so newly grateful for a Christmas tradition that
connects them with a splendid past and points the way to a promising future in
which the notes of Handel’s masterpiece will enrich Christmases for years and
years to come.
