The New York Philharmonic: Peter Schreier conducts Handel’s Messiah, by Michael Miller


George Frideric Handel

Peter Schreier conducts Handel'sMessiah
New York Philharmonic
Avery Fisher Hall

Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 7:30 pm

Peter Schreier, conductor
Ute Selbig, soprano
Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto
Steve Davislim, tenor
Peter Rose, bass
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Joe Miller, director

Handel - Messiah (1741 Version)

There is nothing remarkable, I suppose, in the complex associations that surrounded my visit to Avery Fisher Hall to hear, once again, Handel's Messiah. I love the work as much as anyone with absolutely no admixture of peevishness—except for a bad performance—but I certainly can't take it every year. This time, although the name of Peter Schreier and his distinguished soloists should be enough to attract anyone, I was drawn by my fascination with singers as conductors following the outstanding—and profoundly vocal—performance of Bach's B Minor Mass at Emmanuel Church in Boston a few months ago, conducted by Emmanuel Music's new Music Director, Ryan Turner. Susan Davenny Wyner, for example, is another singer—a great one—who has made an especially valuable contribution as a conductor. In this respect this performance of Messiah was exactly what I expected it to be.

Read the full review in New York Arts