Conductor Marin Alsop and the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra show the enormous multifaceted nature of Bernstein’s funny, parodic and also voluptuous music.
Handel with Hammond organ and hand claps. Scatting and swing. Five saxophones – this is Messiah, but not perhaps as you know it. Marin Alsop’s Gospel Messiah had its European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 December, ahead of a broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
[Marin Alsop’s] magnificent performance of “The Black Mask” was probably preceded by a meticulous analysis of the work. She conducted the opera with extraordinary clarity and awareness of the sonic effect that Penderecki enshrined in the masterful instrumentation of the work. She set in motion a purely sonic total theater, shocking especially in the last…
The ease and delight with which [Alsop] managed to construct the climax — its soaring brass, racing strings, stuttering stops and scintillating finish — was a reminder of why Alsop is so beloved around these parts. Hail to the queen, indeed.