Philharmonic's tame, sloppy 'Messiah' disappoints

Could the roof be leaking at the Rhode Island Philharmonic’s Music School? I don’t know. But I do know the Philharmonic didn’t spend its money on the budget rent-an-orchestra that backed up the Providence Singers last night at Veterans Memorial Auditorium for its annual “Messiah.”

The opening overture was frightful, sloppy and out of tune, sounding more like a college orchestra. That’s because many of the Philharmonic’s best players were missing and replaced with hired hands.

And the quartet of solo vocalists was not much better, with the very noticeable exception of soprano Sonja DuToit Tengblad. We had to wait 50 minutes to hear her pure, joyous sound in “Rejoice greatly.” But it was worth it, since she was the most exciting musician on the stage — and that includes the Singers’ conductor, Christine Noel, who brought very little energy to the evening.

I take that back. About an hour and 50 minutes into the performance, the chorus came alive for the first time, in a smoking rendition of “He trusted in God.”

And while the famed “Hallelujah!” chorus didn’t blow me out of my seat, I loved the way Noel brought the vocal forces down to a whisper and stretched out the tempo before wrapping things up with a bang.

She and the Singers also nailed the “Worthy is the Lamb” finale, but the Amen that followed was a little fussy. I’m all for articulation, but don’t sound like a hiccup.

Returning to the soloists for a moment, tenor Marc Molomot has a sweet voice, just right for oratorio work, but he had trouble projecting. And while local baritone Nicholas Laroche is not exactly a commanding baritone, he added some stylish touches to his big aria, “The Trumpet Shall Sound.”

An unidentified trumpeter added his own spin to the piece, making one of the high points of this Handel score all the more rewarding.

But mezzo Margaret Lias was often just plain boring. She led off “He Shall Feed His Flock” and there was no one home. Then Tengblad took over and lit up the hall.

The thing about the Singers is they sounded crisp and disciplined, but lacked the killer instinct when needed. When they sing out “and his name shall be called Wonderful,” that should knock you back in your seat, but it was much too polite.

I know “Messiah” is a holiday staple, and there were few empty seats last night at the Vets. But don’t do it if you’re just going through the motions and don’t want to put in the time and money for a stellar performance.

But that seems to be a trend at the Philharmonic this season, save perhaps for the last concert, with guest conductor Christopher Warren-Green. The orchestra seems to have slipped since the departure of Larry Rachleff, who cut no corners.