Academy of Ancient Music: Messiah review – vocally exquisite and very contemporary

Barbican, London A new choral work involving London teenagers added topical bite and the AAM Choir and soloists sang Handel’s score with virtuoso determination’Tis the season to be merry and – liturgical quibbles aside – ubiquitous performances of Handel’s Messiah. These days there are two standard types. Massed choral society renditions, for which we have to thank the Victorians. And stripped-down, period-instrument performances of Handel’s own mid-18th century.Under the late Christopher Hogwood, the Academy of Ancient Music virtually invented the latter approach. But this performance under Richard Egarr had an unusual contemporary spin: it opened with A Young Known Voice, a new choral work by Hannah Conway involving London schoolchildren. Skilfully constructed with material created in workshops, it layered anthemic unisons for the children, scraps of Handel for the Academy of Ancient Music Choir, film-score symphonism for the orchestra and disarmingly powerful narrations from teenage readers touching on Trump, stop-and-search policies and homophobia. Continue reading…
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