Black Isle Messiah

15 Dec 2009 in Highland, Music

Black Isle Leisure Centre, Fortrose, 13 December 2009

Alasdair Nicolson in St Magnus Cathedral

Alasdair Nicolson in St Magnus Cathedral

OF ALL THE choral works in the repertoire there can be no doubt that the most popular, indeed the most loved, is Handel’s Messiah. You would be hard put to find an amateur singer in the land who has not relished its memorable choruses, For unto us a child is born, or All we like sheep, and the acme of them all, the magnificent Hallelujah Chorus.

So well known has the Messiah become that in recent years there has developed a trend of scratch performances where singers and instrumentalists have descended on a chosen venue en masse purely to take part in this wonderful oratorio, virtually unrehearsed, for the sheer joy of the experience. Last Sunday the trend reached The Black Isle.

The venture was the brainchild of two Fortrose Academy former pupils, Verity Walker, who served as the Event Manager, and Alasdair Nicolson, composer, conductor, music educationalist and one of the most influential people on the classical music scene.

To be perfectly truthful, this Messiah was not absolutely “scratch”, as certain parameters were laid down to ensure that the performance was not a disaster. Alasdair called in several of his many friends to make sure that the core positions in the orchestra and the four vocal soloists were filled by top quality professional artists. Net result – they put down a marker for the amateur participants and inspired them to heights that many of them did not ever think they could attain.

Any feelings of trepidation there might have been for such a venture were quickly blown away. The orchestra’s tone may have been a bit dark – more Guinness than lager, perhaps – but that was inevitable, as there were as many cellos as there were violins. There were only thirty players altogether, and they made a wholesome sound.

It is tempting to ask the question as to where were all the well kent names from the various Highland ensembles, although to be fair this was a very busy weekend during the busiest month of the year. But the Black Isle Messiah Orchestra did very well indeed without them.

Then there were the four soloists that Alasdair and Verity had cajoled into a trip to Fortrose. They would have been attractions in the London concert halls, let alone a bare but welcoming community hall in the Highlands. Soprano Janis Kelly and tenor Harry Nicoll are well known hereabouts, both being former pupils at Inverness Royal Academy.

Bass Richard Morrison is a Glaswegian by birth who has built up a formidable repertoire in the European opera houses, and with good reason, as he has a magnificent voice. Completing the quartet was alto Alison Wells, whose pure velvet voice floated through the hall from her first note of But who may abide the day of His coming?

And what of the choir? What indeed? As always seems to be the case the ladies considerably outnumbered the gentlemen, but Alasdair Nicolson’s judicious control of his forces ensured that a reasonable balance was maintained. Their first entry for And the glory of the Lord was precise and in total unison, a togetherness that they kept right to the end.

So with their confidence established there was no containing their efforts, and their professionalism grew. The power of all those voices for the first notes of the Hallelujah Chorus was like a gale blasting to every corner of the hall, and would have filled any hall they could ever perform in.

So the three ingredients were inspiration, sheer hard work and a determination to enjoy the moment. Put them together and the result is the triumph that earned and received the standing ovation at the end. It was not just an adrenaline-fuelled euphoria that had Alasdair Nicolson stating that the exercise would be repeated next year. It should be the hottest ticket of the season.

© James Munro, 2009

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