Pulse Quickener : Conductor Kiesler, Although Jewish, Never Tires of Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ and He’s Back in Town to Do It

When conductor Kenneth Kiesler considered doing the original version of Handel’s “Messiah” with the San Diego Symphony and Master Chorale, he ran into a very contemporary problem. His interest in historical commemoration was forced to give way to bottom-line economics.

“I played around with celebrating the 250th anniversary of the oratorio’s premiere by doing it exactly the way it was done in Dublin in 1742. But the original version calls for (three) more soloists, including a countertenor,” Kiesler said in an interview from his Illinois home. “In these days of tight symphony budgets, seven soloists and a performance that lasts longer than three hours is out of the question.”

Two years ago, Kiesler, who is the music director of the Springfield Symphony and the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, made his local debut with the San Diego Symphony and Master Chorale conducting a lively, dramatic performance of “Messiah.” The energetic 39-year-old conductor returns to San Diego Thursday and Friday to tackle the seasonal oratorio again.

No matter how frequently Kiesler conducts “Messiah,” it never fails to quicken his pulse.

“It’s one of the few pieces I look forward to doing. Maybe it’s because I’m Jewish and grew up without knowing the oratorio. The first time I conducted it, which was in 1976, was the first time I actually experienced the whole work. I vaguely recall my parents taking me when I was a kid: I remember hearing the overture, and then I fell asleep until (the aria) ‘The trumpet shall sound.’ ”

Kiesler reflected on the irony of a Jewish conductor developing such a strong affection for a decidedly Christian piece of music.

“When I conduct the Hallelujah Chorus--which I’m sure I’ve done several hundred times--there’s not a time that I don’t feel the hair of my neck stand on end. It’s not a religious response, however. It’s more of a theological response to God and to the glory of the creation of the music itself.”

He compared his empathy for “Messiah” with the identification he is able to make when he directs the complex, tortured symphonies of the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

“One does not have to have lived under Stalin’s oppression to understand and sympathize with what the composer expressed.”

Because there is no single, authoritative version of “Messiah,” Kiesler, along with every other conductor, had to decide which choruses and arias he would use for this week’s performance. Because Handel freely changed the composition of “Messiah” every time he performed it, adding a new aria for a soloist with particular virtues or limitations or rewriting a chorus, Kiesler felt no compulsion to adhere to any particular precedent.

“Where there is a choice (of aria or chorus), we will do the most-often-performed versions, with one exception. This year, soprano Virginia Sublett wanted to try the aria ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion’ in the 12/8 version, which sounds like a gigue.”

With a relaxation of the symphony’s strict limitations of performance time for an oratorio, Kiesler has been able to restore two choruses he left out in 1990. Even after judicious editing and trimming, the opening night of Kiesler’s 1990 performance here exceeded 2 1/2 hours, which required the management to come up with unanticipated overtime pay. Under the current symphony contract, Kiesler can now go as long as three hours. He estimated that this year’s performance will clock in at 2 hours and 48 minutes, including the standard intermission.

Although there are many theories that explain the unquenchable popularity of “Messiah”--it is one of the few 18th Century works that never had to be “rediscovered” from a period of neglect--Kiesler finds its psychological strengths particularly compelling.

“It has vignettes that describe the character of various events, not just the events themselves. In fact, it’s not a telling of the story at all, like the Bach Passions. (‘Messiah’) is more or less a kind of group response to the events (of the life of Christ). For example, the overture, which is the most contrapuntal movement, symbolizes the chaos and disarray before the coming of the Messiah. Then the E major chord of ‘Comfort Ye’ brings an immediate feeling of light and a sense of comforting. Handel sculpts the character and mood of the piece so carefully that you feel the transformation without having to reflect or analyze it.”

* The San Diego Symphony and San Diego Master Chorale perform Handel’s “Messiah” under guest conductor Kenneth Kiesler; 8 p.m. Thursday at Copley Symphony Hall and 8 p.m. Friday at El Cajon’s Shadow Mountain Community Church.