The eighth iteration of Soundstreams’ Electric Messiah opened last night at Theatre Passe Muraille.  Like last year at Crow’s it’s staged fairly conventionally with the players facing the audience though some use was made of the galleries at TPM.  I do kind of miss the club atmosphere of the earliest versions but it still has lots to offer.

There are five solo singers this year with a band of electric organ (Joel Visentin), harpsichord/ondes martenot (Wesley Chen), electric cello (Amahl Arulanandam) and guitars (Luan Phung).  So no chorus, no dancers (bar a rather good cameo by Korin Thomas-Smith), no turntables but Adam Scime, as always, conducting and, on occasion, playing electric bass.

This year the singers are an interestingly varied bunch.  Three are well known to the Toronto opera/song scene; soprano Midori Marsh, mezzo Rebecca Cuddy and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith.  Jazz vocalist/pianist Elizabeth Shepherd has also been seen in Electric Messiah before.  Rounding the group out is countertenor Daniel Cabena who is something of a specialist in HIP though I doubt he’s ever done Handel like this before.

The staging, directed by Chelsea Dab Hilke, is lively and involves the singers creating art work at the back of the stage as well as moving into the audience during the very exuberant (and by now traditional) version of the “Hallelujah Chorus” that closes the show.

Musically there are the big numbers from Messiah in arrangements used in previous years; including Elizabeth’s version of “He Was Despised”, accompanying herself on keyboards, and Adam Scime’s interesting arrangement of “All We Like Sheep”.  There is music composed for Electric Messiah in earlier years like Ian Cusson’s O Death, O Grave and Adam Scime’s Hallelujah Introduction.  There was also new (old) stuff like Aurelis Prudentius’ Corde natus ex parentis where Daniel accompanied himself on the vielle.

This time it’s very much an “electric”, Electric Messiah.  it feels like there’s an immersive soundscape from which the individual elements emerge so it has a kind of sonic continuity that I rather like.  This is a function of both excellent sound design and really good instrumental playing.  It’s all terrific but I have to single out Luan’s multi style acoustic and electric guitar work.  It was fabulous.

The singers and singing too are varied and make a compelling whole.  There’s (relatively) operatic singing from Midori (including a sumptuous “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”) and Rebecca which contrasts with Daniel’s very pure tone and Elizabeth’s less classical style.  Then there’s the powerful baritone of Korin to play against the four high voices.

There’s a good deal more than I’ve described packed into a fairly short show.  Probably it’s greatest virtue is it’s coherent and immersive quality that makes the whole experience considerably more than the sum of the, individually excellent, parts.  For me, Electric Messiah has become an essential part of the winter holiday music scene with its creative tension between the familiar and the not so familiar.

Electric Messiah runs at Theatre Passe Muraille until Sunday December 17th.

Photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann