Handel’s ‘Messiah’

Usher Hall, 2/1/2026

Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, David Bates (guest conductor)

Edinburgh Pro Musica Orchestra

“You’re going too fast!”

One of the traditions in the Bannatyne-Scott household is to mimic the Corries in their song about a Sunday Driver whenever someone is speeding at anything, and I fear that my first review of 2026 will be dominated by that plaintive cry above.

Another more splendid tradition is that of the New Year ‘Messiah’, which has been performed at the Usher Hall for decades by the excellent Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. In recent years, it has usually been conducted by their music director, Michael Bawtree, but he was playing harpsichord today (with the great John Kitchen on the organ), and the guest conductor was David Bates. On paper this looked an excellent choice, an ex-singer and an expert in baroque performance, but alas, for me, he fell into the trap of playing this wonderful masterpiece too fast.

Now, I have to confess that my own recording of ‘Messiah’ with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre on Deutsche Grammophon on which I share the bass honours with Russell Smythe, is very rapid, and indeed my version of ‘Why do the Nations’ is the fastest on record! However, in mitigation, Mr Minkowski was able to temper his largely prestissimo reading with a fair degree of subtlety and contrast, whereas Mr Bates was relentless. I know there has been a reaction in the last 40 years or so to the tradition of playing Handel like Brahms or Mendelssohn, but there needs to be a reason for pressing the accelerator, and I couldn’t make one out here.

It’s also unfair to ask an amateur choir to sing at speeds which make the words inaudible and the coloratura unnatural. Harking back to my recording on DG, Marc Minkowski had a small, young, fully professional choir singing for him. It must be said that the ERCU did a fantastic job today, and were only rarely discomfited by the conductor’s tempi, but to perform ‘Messiah’ with a half hour interval, and still come in under two and a half hours was verging on the crazy.

It must be said that the audience roared their approbation at the end, but that was, I think, mainly for Handel’s wonderful music, in a score that never ceases to amaze me however many times I have sung it or listened to it.

The Edinburgh Pro Musica Orchestra were similarly pushed to the limits but acquitted themselves superbly well, led by the excellent Greg Lawson as leader, and featuring the superb trumpet of Jason Owen Lewis.

An interesting quartet of soloists had been chosen for this year’s performance, the stand out for me being the Edinburgh Mezzo-soprano, Judy Louie Brown. Wearing a stunning green sparkly dress, her warm contralto notes were a revelation. The mezzo part in ‘Messiah’ was written for a singing actress, Mrs Susanna Cibber, famed for her low notes and dramatic performances, and that’s what we got from Ms Brown. It can be a problem finding the right voice for these arias, as a standard operatic mezzo finds the part too low. Standing tall, and committed to the text, Ms Brown gave a dominant and vibrant rendition, and for once, I was sorry when the aria, “He was despised” had its repeat cut. I was looking forward to the phrase, “He hid not his face from shame and spitting!”

Her colleague, the soprano, Gemma Summerfield, didn’t quite reach her quality of interpretation, but I enjoyed her clear and true voice, every note beautifully in tune and with a rich creamy tone. Perhaps her voice might be better suited to Mozart, and I would like to hear her in a different repertoire. There was also for me a little too much embellishment of Handel’s notes. I am all for improvising in repeat sections, but I prefer to hear what the composer wrote at least once in a Handel aria.

The tenor, Simon Wall, gave a perfectly acceptable rendition of his music, but he seemed slightly ill at ease with the size of the auditorium, his voice failing to ring out when necessary. He also had a worrying habit of shading off the top notes, which demand the opposite in performance. He was, to be fair, hampered in his opening aria, “Ev’ry Valley” by a ridiculous tempo.

I was the bass soloist with the ERCU in this very hall 43 years ago, and always look forward to hearing the low voice arias. I had been impressed by Edward Jowle’s Superintendent Budd in Scottish Opera’s ‘Albert Herring’ a couple of years ago, and he was a decent bass soloist here.  I feel he is probably going to end up as a baritone rather than a bass-baritone, as his gleaming top was the best part of his voice, but he looked very much in command on the stage, and he delivered his arias with aplomb. “Why do the Nations” was if anything even faster than my version on DG, and any chance of articulating the coloratura was lost. I was slightly disappointed with “The Trumpet shall Sound”, as I felt Mr Jowle was singing within himself when he really needed to “go for it!” As it was, Mr Owen Lewis’s trumpet was the dominant voice in that wonderful duet and it should be the other way round. Nonetheless a promising performance and I look forward to his Figaro with Scottish Opera later in the season.

All in all, this was a good if not vintage ERCU ‘Messiah’, and much appreciated by the sold out audience. By the way, full marks to ERCU for the excellent free programme, with interesting notes and good biographies.