Prom 65: Choral Day (III) - Handel / Mozart: Messiah, ASMF, J. Butt

[Maclintick]

It sounds a bit like Butt and the Dunedin consort's Bach St John's Passion in 2017 when the audience were rehearsed in the chorales beforehand then joined in with the performance (very impressively in tune I thought at the time) as Bach would have expected:

"As we all sang a rousing 'Now Thank We All Our God' at the end of our two and a half hour collective experience, this heathen recognised those German Protestant were on to something".

Mrs M and yours truly were in that 2017 Sing-Along-A-Butty of the St John Passion, but sadly were unable to attend for this year's Messiah. It did sound splendid on the radio, though, and I'm not surprised that Oddoneout & others who participated in the communal singing found it very moving. John Butt is a true national treasure

[oddoneout]

Mrs M and yours truly were in that 2017 Sing-Along-A-Butty of the St John Passion, but sadly were unable to attend for this year's Messiah. It did sound splendid on the radio, though, and I'm not surprised that Oddoneout & others who participated in the communal singing found it very moving. John Butt is a true national treasure

Just a slight clarification - although I did sing along I wasn't in the RAH. My reference to the rehearsal paying off etc was in response to Darkbloom's post about being there and being rehearsed.
It did cross my mind last night that the concert could be described as "HIP, but not as you know it!" as it went in the other direction from the pared down productions that HIP often conjures up, but the augmented orchestra is courtesy of Mr Mozart, rather than a modern take on the original. The choral forces used this time are presumably more questionable in terms of historical accuracy?

Just found this, from someone who wasn't too keen years ago

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/dec/11/classicalmusicandopera

[Historian]

The choral forces used this time are presumably more questionable in terms of historical accuracy?

How far back do you want to go? I was surprised to find some years ago that large-scale performances of Messiah began in the mid 1780s under the patronage of George III. The Wikipedia article on Messiah mentions that Mozart first heard it at Mannheim in1777, so with a smaller chorus.

[oddoneout]

How far back do you want to go? I was surprised to find some years ago that large-scale performances of Messiah began in the mid 1780s under the patronage of George III. The Wikipedia article on Messiah mentions that Mozart first heard it at Mannheim in1777, so with a smaller chorus.

I was thinking just in terms of what Mozart would have expected/intended, rather than what happened subsequently. This is from a Gramophone review of a recording

The choruses are mostly effectively sung by Rilling's Stuttgart Gachinger Kantorei consisting of some 50 or so voices—Mozart is believed to have had no more than 12 singers in his choir—and the orchestral playing is polished and alert.

Having said that I don't know what version was used for the Prom concert - the degree of HIPness if you will, how close to the original in date and score terms.

[Historian]

I was thinking just in terms of what Mozart would have expected/intended, rather than what happened subsequently. This is from a Gramophone review of a recording

Having said that I don't know what version was used for the Prom concert - the degree of HIPness if you will, how close to the original in date and score terms.

Good point: jonfan has already mentioned a difference from a previous Mozart version performance. Still very different from the choral resources Mozart is believed to have been writing for.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

One of Mozart’s amendments to the score was omitted in this performance. Mozart turned “Why do the Nations” into a Da Capo aria. Having heard it done in this way, I think it works well, and I wonder whether Handel might have intended it to be done in this way, but missed off the D.C. marking on the score.