Music Reviews : Mormon Choir Sings ‘Messiah’ at Pavilion

Christmas time, as you know, brings out the lights, the holly wreaths and umpteen performances of “Messiah.” On Monday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Southern California Mormon Choir dutifully offered its 34th annual reading of Handel’s masterpiece.

Under conductor Russell Fox, the 110-voice ensemble brought forthright energy and propulsive drive to the three-hour oratorio, most of which they performed on this occasion. Though tending toward the louder end of the spectrum, the singing rarely sounded forced or strident, and Fox maintained judicious balances throughout. The words, enhanced by intelligent phrasing, emerged clearly and compellingly.

The Handelian range would trouble any amateur chorus, and the sopranos sometimes lost focus in their upper notes, while the altos often sounded breathy in the low register. All sections tended to scoop when singing upward melodic leaps (such as the tenors’ ” . . . and He shall reign forever and ever” in the “Hallelujah” Chorus).

Tenor Thomas Bogdan commands a rich, vibrant and unusually agile voice. Though he encumbered his singing with excessive ornamentation, and injected into it more drama than appropriate, he communicated with clarity and flair. Soprano Nova Thomas, who also inclined toward the operatic, exhibited unusual control and displayed an extraordinarily pure, clear sound in every register and at every dynamic level.

Neither of the other soloists exhibited as much vocal power, but both gave more learned, stylish accounts their lines. Mezzo Ariel Bybee sang “He was despised” with subtlety and telling sensitivity; Byron Ray Wood, though occasionally lacking in vocal fluidity, projected the bass arias cogently and heroically.

The 30-piece orchestra proved sympathetic and polished.