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Handel's most popular oratorio is not a major part of Christmas celebrations in France, as it is in English-speaking countries, and that makes the fine performance by these French choral singers all the more impressive. This production slightly misrepresents the work by printing the title as The Messiah, adding a definite article that is not a part of the original English title. But by any title, Messiah is a masterpiece and has been recognized as such since the composer's lifetime. It is, in fact, the only concert work of the baroque era that has an unbroken performance history through the more than two-and-a-half centuries of its existence. Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Bach's Mass in B Minor, and all of Handel's operas, to name only a few examples, were long forgotten and had to be revived for modern audiences. As it traveled through the centuries, Messiah was adapted to changing musical tastes, and only in the last generation or two have performances tried to return to the way it was performed in Handel's lifetime. This performance, thoroughly enjoyable on its own terms, is in the 19th-century style, not baroque, with a large (and very good) chorus and a modern orchestra, including instruments that Handel did not use. Those who want a purer baroque style might try Christopher Hogwood on CD-- or Roger Norrington on VHS if they insist on video. Seeing the musicians does add to enjoyment, and the performance has a striking visual ambiance in an ancient French monastery with some 15th-century tapestries that show their age. --Joe McLellan
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