[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Roger Massacre of a Song!!



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



______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com