SITE RATING: 2/10
SITE
REVIEW: Like so many
other attempts to "modernize" Handel's great
baroque oratorio, Frank McNamera's starry,
glossy "Young Messiah" manages to infuse
nothing worthwhile to the legacy of Messiah,
instead coming off as cheap, tacky, and
ill-conceived. Released in 2006, and
shown on PBS stations in the United States,
this production managed to create a small
amount of controversy due to IR£700,000 being
spent on the project (the committee who
authorized the funds thought that they would
make money from the project, rather than
allowing that the project had any intrinsic
artistic value), and charges of "musical
sacrilege" being leveled against it.
Viewing it now, I can think of many
other instances of sacrilege that far outweigh
this trifling performance, but it's greatest
sins are unquestionably the synthesized drums
which tinnily adorn every chorus, the clashing
styles of the gospel and classical choirs,
actor Aiden Quinn's stilted, self-conscious
narration, the flat, careless vocals by the
Irish Philharmonic Chorus, and Roger Daltrey
and Chaka Khan's "what-were-they-thinking"
solos. I could go on about the hideous
costumes, the Vegas-style sets and lighting,
and the blank stares on most of the
participants, but suffice to say that this
misguided attempt to bring Messiah
to the masses feels leaden, is often painful
to listen to and watch, and is a woe-begotten
mismatch of clashing styles.
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