Re: Roger Massacre of a Song!!

["" <jcraine@hotmail.com>]

Mr Twomey: Rubbish.I was there.Roger rocked.If you appreciate Roger's voice 
you'd love the show.'nuff said.

keets - if you like this kind of show you should enjoy the video...
the tv premiere is dec 30 so hopefully the official vhs release will be 
around then...
(although i would exchange chaka kahn for someone better)
i was surprised by gladys night - didnt expect such power..she resembled 
shirley bassey on the night


>From: "L. Bird" <pkeets@hotmail.com>
>To: thewho@igtc.com
>Subject: Re: Roger Massacre of a Song!!
>Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 23:12:11 PST
>
>Definitely this person was huffy about the whole idea, but then to an 
>extent
>that's the purpose of the show--to smash barriers between the "hallowed"
>classical music and popular music today.  I often like updates of classical
>stuff; now and then I don't.  The Messiah is tough music.  I wondered when
>it was announced how near the original they were going to do this.  Should
>be interesting.
>
>Here's the whole review, for anyone with too little patience to search for
>it.  And even better, here's an address where I suppose one could ask about
>the cd/video:
>
>
>Royal Dublin Society
>
>ADDRESS DETAILS:
>Simmonscourt, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
>Tel: 01 668 0866
>Fax: 01 660 4014
>
>
>>Let us be quite clear: this was a pathetic production of breathtaking
>>crassness.  In attempting to popularise Handel's classic, the organisers 
>>of
>>this disaster have misunderstood completely the differing impulses of
>>classical and popular music, and made a corpulent mess out of Messiah. 
>>This
>>had neither the magic of the original nor the energy of good pop.
>
>It failed on all possible terms, most pertinently its own. A
>Messiah for a New Millennium? With singers whose heydays are long past?
>Performed by a church folk group gone mad? All guitar and tambourine, the
>cheesiness of the stock pop devices of this quite tasteless arrangement 
>made
>a mockery of its intentions - this was as modern as the Eurovision Song
>Contest. For all its pop touches, it had less energy than Handel's 
>original,
>and despite cuts, seemed longer. To make matters worse everything was
>over-amplified, making the orchestra and choir sound coarse, like being
>stuck in a lift with the loudspeaker at full blast.
>
>Most shocking of all was that not one of the cast could hold a tune. All
>night, voices strained to fill parts for which they were not able, reaching
>notes only vaguely in the region intended. The singing seemed as if it had
>been put through some kind of warblephone, so distorted was it by tasteless
>vibrato, designed to cover a multitude of deficiencies.
>
>Nobody succeeded. There were only degrees of awfulness. Worst by far was 
>the
>dreadful Roger Daltrey. Everything he touched was butchered. Chaka Khan was
>all over the place.  Gladys Knight was just not equipped to sing this 
>music.
>  Jeffrey Osborne came out with least disgrace, a dubious distinction. All
>this was peppered with the offensively ambiguous double-speak of narrator
>Aidan Quinn's pointless
>role. Was he scorning or supporting the Messiah story?  Who could tell?
>
>The Overture, as is appropriate, set the tone for the evening.  After a
>suitably faithful start, the electric guitars were let loose, never to be
>restrained again. The whole of the show was summed up in the first number.
>In the original, the tenor's "comfort ye" is a special moment as it grows
>from nowhere. When bashed out in the manner that Osborne did as he groped
>for the right notes it is as magical as a bucket of vomit; although it
>seemed positively virtuous as soon as rock dinosaur Daltrey strode on stage
>to massacre Every Valley Shall Be Exalted. New depths of dreadfulness were
>to follow, making even unnecessary gospel a capella choruses seem a relief.
>And I never again wish to be subjected to a display of such tackiness that
>greeted the  Hallelujah! chorus, complete with thrashing lights, drums and
>guitars.
>
>The irony is that Messiah is one piece that does not need this treatment to
>be staggeringly popular. Double the disgrace on this execrable performance
>that it should show such disrespect to the music, the composer and the
>millions of music lovers who hold this piece dear. A horrible evening.
>
>                          Aidan Twomey
>
>
>
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