What is the real reason people stand up during the Hallelujah Chorus? There’s no firm evidence that the custom began with George II. I have a sneaking suspicion that Handel’s oratorio is so long, and the seats in Huddersfield Town Hall so puritanically uncomfortable, that the audience are simply grateful to stretch their legs.
But if you want to hear Messiah done in the grand manner this is still the place to come. Huddersfield Choral Society has performed the work every December since at least 1860 and is responsible for some of the benchmark recordings, including those of Malcolm Sargent in the 1950s and Charles Mackerras (with Mozart’s embellishments) 30 years later.
Since then, not a great deal has changed. The Huddersfield choir presents an impressive wall of sound – not the one Handel was expecting to hear perhaps, but superbly balanced and dynamically responsive nonetheless. And the tempos have sped up a little: Tecwyn Evans directs the Royal Northern Sinfonia with a lithe, historically informed feel, though he still puts bass soloist Henry Waddington through the torment of The People that Walked in Darkness at a funereal pace.
The society experimented with countertenors a couple of years back but have since reverted to a more conventional mezzo, though Kathryn Rudge’s lower register tends to be lost within the orchestral texture. Ed Lyon is a thrillingly agile early-music tenor, and among the few who can hit the high notes in Thou Shalt Break Them with apparent ease. But the standout contribution comes from Swedish soprano Susanna Andersson, who makes the florid coloratura sound like a breath of fresh air and, while most singers give the impression that performing the piece every Christmas is some form of penance, demonstrates the communicative benefit of a smile. This is, after all, a hymn of thanksgiving for the overthrow of death – at least she looks genuinely pleased about it.
