Christmas can be kind and gentle, heartwarming and sweet, or blow your wig off with the power of an operatic typhoon.
The Prince George Symphony Orchestra and the Cantata Singers brought the hurricane of Handel's Messiah to Vanier Hall, and established with equal force just how endowed with arts skills this city is.
Even the soloists had Prince George content. Alto Melanie Nicol was one of the four hired guns orchestras bring in for productions of The Messiah the world over. We had to look no further than our own back yard for this star vocalist. She carried the part with a sensitivity for the words and a will to have the audience impressed by the message of the libreto as well as her voice.
The other soloists had their individualities as well. Baritone Alan Macdonald was an elegant presenter and technically sound, a true opera musician. Tenor Andrew Robb's skills were clear but he added touches of acting to the part, with simple facial gestures and body language over and above the song. And soprano Bahareh Poureslami first appeared to be the most introverted of the four then opened her mouth and knocked the doors of their hinges. She was worth the price of admission all by herself.
Behind them all was the choir, some 80 local voices - men and women from all walks of Prince George life - under the obviously capable leadership of conductor Damian Dorschner. They spread physically across the entire Vanier stage, but their voices spread across the Christmas season and rattled every last humbug out of the chains of grumpiness. Their synchronicity and volume were wonders to observe. Of course they nailed the big number, the legendary Hallelujah Chorus that everyone comes to see. Mess that up and the whole night is ruined. But the Cantata Singers did our audience one better and they beat it with another segment of the Handel masterpiece. I would argue that their handling of the so-called Amen Chorus, or Worthy Is the Lamb, was the highlight of the night and a triumphant close to the night.
This was also the segment in which the PGSO players shone brightest. The Messiah is so centred on the voices that one might overlook the orchestra, but the Prince George symphony made a blitz of the beloved event-piece and gave the singers every drop of musical nourishment needed for glowing memories of the show.
Messiah is not done every year by this massive collaboration of local talents, making the quality of the 2014 version all the more special. The PGSO and the Cantata Singers will be working together again soon, however. On Feb. 21 and 22 the two groups will reconfigure along with Carolyn Duerksen's District 57 Tapestry Singers and guest opera soloists Caroline Markos (soprano) and Dale Thoness (baritone) as they collaborate on the longtime audience favourite Carmina Burana by composer Carl Orff.
