While the orchestra sounded assured, the chorus was persistently out of balance. Kraemer’s impulsive rhythmic accents turned this becalmed night-music into frolicsome dance – softly voiced and elegantly played but wholly alien to the dramatic pitch of the moment. The ensemble’s precision, warmth and general period esprit were in evidence from the outset with a lustrous turn through Handel’s brief opening Sinfonia.īut emblematic of what was so disconcerting, so mannered and even wrongheaded, about this “Messiah” arose in the bizarre perkiness of the instrumental Pifa, the quiescent pastoral interlude that immediately precedes the angel’s proclamation to the shepherds of the Savior’s birth.

Music of the Baroque is essentially an instrumental enterprise, and the little orchestra has achieved a high standard through the nearly two decades of British conductor Jane Glover’s directorship. The band was splendid – the unexpected co-star of the show, along with mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy. One might reasonably surmise that Music of the Baroque, with its long and rewarding history of performing masterpieces of the 17th and 18th centuries, would produce an assured and persuasive account of Handel’s “Messiah.” So it was surprising and puzzling to hear the uneven and generally quirky performance offered under the direction of Nicholas Kraemer on Nov. Nicholas Kraemer conducted Music of the Baroque’s ‘Messiah.’ (Photos by HMS Media) Review: Handel’s “Messiah.” Music of the Baroque Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Nicholas Kraemer.

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