Handel/Mozart: Messiah (complete oratorio sung in English arranged Mozart rec 1988)

"When Glyndebourne Opera decided to perform Cavalli's operas in the 1960s they employed Raymond Leppard to produce editions which filled out the orchestration and adapted them to modern taste. At that period the scores of Monteverdi and Cavalli operas were regarded as too sparse to perform in the original. Perhaps at some future period these adaptations will be dug out and performed as historical items, showing how the 1960s viewed Cavalli and Monteverdi.

When Baron Van Swieten and his Society of Associated Cavaliers wanted to perform the works of Handel in Vienna in the late 1780s, they employed Mozart to produce an edition to adapt them to contemporary taste. Handel's orchestrations, with their dependence on strong bass lines and top lines filled in with harpsichord, must have seemed rather stark to Mozartian Vienna. Also, Handel's use of organ continuo in the choral numbers would have caused problems. So Mozart produced added wind parts. He had Handel's vocal lines and string parts copied into a new score and then added wind. They used a German translation of the English text. These were not the only changes, some solos were re-allocated to a different voice part and 'The Trumpet shall sound' was extensively re-written because the baroque art of high trumpet playing was something foreign to 1780s Vienna. The result is a fascinating snapshot of one great composer's view of another.

There are, perhaps, three reasons for deciding to perform Mozart's arrangement of Messiah. The first is to gain an insight into the workings of Mozart's mind and to hear what how he clothes the Handelian orchestra in his own wind elaborations. Secondly, a large choir might be uncomfortable singing with a Handelian orchestra and feel that the weight of the choir needs the fullness of Mozart's orchestration. The third is adherence to lazy tradition, because people are uncomfortable with Handel's own sound-world.

I raise this question because this recording of the Handel/Mozart version, made in 1988, makes some editorial decisions that make us question their rationale for performing the work. As an aside, we should note that 1988 was the year that Trevor Pinnock's Messiah was recorded. This was the recording of Messiah which aimed, very successfully, to use period performance to re-invigorate the traditional edition.

For their recording, Mackerras and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra opted to use Mozart's orchestrations. But they reverted to Handel's original English, transposed Mozart's changed solo numbers back to the familiar Handelian voice allocations, re-instated the very unViennese high trumpet part in 'The trumpet shall sound' and added a harpsichord continuo, which tinkles away throughout. Mozart probably did use a continuo, but he would have used a piano; continuo had become far less important. After all we rarely perform his symphonies with continuo.

The result of all these decisions is to make one feel that the intention of this recording was not to explore Mozart's view of Handel, but simply to make available a traditional performance of Messiah with all the bells and whistles. They could just as well have used Ebenezer Prout's additional accompaniments; using Mozart somehow sanctions the change.

I apologise if this sounds a little too purist, but this is one area where I'm with Mahler in regarding tradition as schlamperei. If we want to perform the Handel/Mozart Der Messias or even the Handel/Prout Messiah let's do so, but let's do it properly and not simply take the bits from it that we like and reject those we either don't like or are not used to.

That said, this is a ripping good performance. Mackerras has a fine group of soloists who have a good knowledge of Handelian style. Mackerras's speeds are just right for his forces and the choruses sound fast when they ought to but never rushed. The Huddersfield Choral Society are on pretty good form and the faster passages come over with decent clarity. Philip Langridge sounds a little too operatic for my taste, too big toned; but he undoubtedly does know how to find his way around the score. Felicity Lott is radiant and spins a wonderfully fine vocal line. Felicity Palmer sounds a little 'mumsy' in her opening solo, but 'He was despised' (done with its da capo) is as warm and passionate as you could want. Robert Lloyd does wonders at getting his dark bass voice round the Handelian fioriture. The soloists discreetly ornament where necessary, though I think they use pretty standard baroque ornamentation rather than something more 18th century.

Of course, another point to bear in mind is that singing in this orchestration the singers need to have bigger voices than when using Handel's own version. The wind are omnipresent in the arias and so the soloists require more power. There is an interesting tale told about John Barbirolli and Kathleen Ferrier. She was singing the alto solos in Messiah at the Hallé and complained to Barbirolli that one of the solos (possibly 'He was despised') was so tiring. Barbirolli realised that she'd possibly never sung it in Handel's version and omitted all the added parts, the result transformed her account of the aria.

Mackerras uses the traditional cuts so that part 2 loses four items and part 3 loses four items. The disc comes with an interesting essay that explains the Mozartian background of the work and makes it clear what editorial decisions were made, so that we know what we are hearing. There is also a libretto.

The main delight of this recording, though, is to be found in Mozart's wind parts. They gloriously burble along, commenting on Handel's score almost as if we were eavesdropping on Mozart himself as he read the score and made comments. For a committed baroque idealist this is something of a guilty pleasure, akin to adding whipped cream to a dessert which does not really need it.

There is a lot of work to be done on performance practice in Mozart's version of Messiah. It would be interesting if a period performance ensemble would take it in hand and give us an ur-Messias, complete with forte-piano continuo and ornamentation in contemporary Viennese style.

If you want a traditional Messiah with added wind parts, then you cannot go wrong with this one. It has the added advantage of having Sir Charles Mackerras at the helm and a group of soloists who, even in 1988, would have been unlikely to record the work with a period practice group. For enthusiasts of Handel's own Messiah I recommend at least one recording of the Mozart orchestration, as a guilty pleasure for solitary listening."
(MusicWeb June 2006)