Michael Vincent, Musical Toronto and The Toronto Star

Toronto boasts over 30 Messiah’s performed across the city, and perhaps with the exception of New York City, makes Toronto Messiah Central.

While there are a wide variety of offerings, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Tafelmusik remain the two standbys. Without being too competitive, it’s always fun to compare them, which no doubt means I will receive my share of angry letters from righteous readers, but I will go ahead and put on my helmet, so as to block myself from injury.

Starting with the TSO, conductor laureate Sir Andrew Davis returned this year to perform his “Mega Messiah,” arrangement, which featured prominent organ parts, added marimba, and divisi sections that broke off into mini-subsets. It’s was an unbuttoned yet colourful assemblage that stands apart from the 19th-century revamps by Mozart and Goossens, who both expanded the orchestration in favour of a denser sound.

Read the full review online.