One of the reasons that I made time to go this year was because one of my brothers-in-law (a bass) was singing in it for the first time. He loved it, and I have to confess to being a wee bit envious; I've never sung the Messiah in its entirety, just bits from it, such as "And The Glory of the Lord" and the "Hallelujah Chorus". It's definitely on my list of things I want to do some day, though.
All of the soloists were great last night, but I have to say that both I and my sister (with whom I was sitting) thought the baritone, Jesse Blumberg, was amazing. In "The Trumpets Shall Sound" when the trumpets are actually sounding and he's singing... wow. The soprano Stefanie True was also really good, and very expressive.
Speaking about amazing, the conductor Stephen Stubbs was conducting and playing the harpsichord! I thought it a bit odd at the beginning that his score was propped up on a harpsichord facing the orchestra and choir instead of on a regular podium. But at different times during the performance he would be playing it, often along with the other keyboardist who was alternating between the organ and another harpsichord. Mr. Stubbs was like, 'No big deal: I'm just here directing the symphony orchestra and choir, and- oh, yeah- playing the harpsichord, too.' My brother-in-law said that, while he was playing, he'd be directing by waving his head and mouthing the words to them. It was pretty amazing... the whole thing was, actually.
Afterwards, everyone was in that euphoric mood you get when you've experienced something beautiful and uplifting together, smiling and wishing complete strangers a Merry Christmas. We met up with my brother-in-law and went out into the cold, scuffing along the snowy sidewalks to where we'd parked, looking up at the clear night sky and occasionally breaking into bits of the songs from Handel which we love so much. It really was a lovely evening.