Messiah, Durham Cathedral

THE Christmas trees were still there and sparkling, suitably so on an icy night as the cathedral filled up for Handel’s Messiah.

As the Dean explained in his introduction, the 40 days of Advent last until Candlemas, so this really was the last concert of Christmas.

Despite the cold, it drew a good-sized audience. One novelty – the soloists all sang from memory.

Bass Andrew Smitt stepped in at the last minute as James Oldfield was unwell. But he clearly knew the work well and gave a characterful and strong performance, particularly compelling in Behold I tell you a mystery and performing The trumpet shall sound with great vigour.

Soprano Cecilia Osmond has a lovely, clear voice and a stillness about her presence. She gave beautiful simplicity to her opening recitatives and her singing of How beautiful are the feet was simply lovely.

Tenor Philip Sheffield’s opening recitative, Comfort ye my people, was direct and strong, and his rendition of Thou shalt break them was dramatic. He was very moving in Thy rebuke hath broken his heart.

Counter-tenor Robert Ogden took the parts often sung by a contralto and the stridency in his upper registers well suited He was despised.

The choir sang three choruses without scores – And the glory of the Lord, Glory to God towards the end of the first half, and finally, perhaps the most famous of all: Hallelujah.

The effect of not having the barrier of a score between singer and audience is perceptible especially for a choir. The sound is more immediate and direct, with more emotional expression beamed at the listeners. It is hard for a choir unused to singing from memory to learn and perform without a score. It can be scary, so well done Durham Cathedral Society and director Michael Summers.

The orchestra, led by Julia Boulton, was small with 27 players and a little bass-heavy in some of the recitatives. There were one or two minor lapses of rhythm and timing, but the choir avoided the obvious trap in All we like sheep.

While Lift up your heads was somewhat slow and heavy, the final choruses were splendid.

Sue Shaw