TV REVIEW : Singers Shine in Anniversary ‘Messiah’ on A

A quarter-millennium after it was composed, Handel’s “Messiah” now comes in more flavors than ice cream. An anniversary performance from Neville Marriner and friends, airing tonight on A&E; cable (at 6 and 10), reminds us, however, that before it became a seasonal icon, pop platform or musicological football, the oratorio was a singer’s piece.

Taped in Dublin in April, 250 years after the premiere there, this “Messiah” is an inconsistent compromise in terms of style and edition. Marriner uses reasonably sized contingents of modern instruments and mixed voices from the Orchestra and Chorus of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in the Point Theatre, a modern concert hall much larger than the original venue.

The opening section of the overture is lavishly embellished, but that kind of detailing proves intermittently applied. Marriner’s approach is quick and cool, with some imaginative but not completely convincing ideas about dramatic tempo and dynamic fluctuations.

He relies basically on the original Dublin version of the score--or rather, what is assumed about that edition--which means there are substantial cuts in some numbers and odd additions elsewhere, and unfamiliar variants.

Orchestra and chorus turn in lively work, generally projecting joy and tenderness better than grief or majesty. Marriner’s laissez-faire direction is particularly cavalier about choral releases.

The treble soloists are the glory of this production. Sylvia McNair’s soprano packs the perfect combination of purity and power, intelligence and articulation. The Nativity scene, for example, or “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” should always sound this radiant and natural.

Mezzo Anne Sophie von Otter also provides effortless clarity and warmth. Her assignments are shared, however, with male alto Michael Chance, who even takes over a transposed “If God Be for Us” in one of those inconsistent attempts to approximate the Dublin original. His strength and agility are quite welcome, though, and his sound blessedly unreedy.

Tenor Jerry Hadley offers clarion sound and expressive nuance. Bass Robert Lloyd saves his best for a sluggish “The Trumpet Shall Sound,” but manages only fuzzy fakery in the melismatic shaking of “Thus Saith the Lord.”