Jonathon Adams’s “classic Handelian”and Panthaki’s“scrupulously shaped” Messiah at New York Phil

“Adams enunciated words like a deep-toned voice-over artist and used classic Handelian word painting in the aria ‘The people that walked in darkness,’ adopting a shadowy tone before opening up into resplendent high notes on the word ‘light.’ This was good old-fashioned oratorio style, in which singing is an elevated form of recitation….

“The Philharmonic’s other soloists included the soprano Sherezade Panthaki, who scrupulously shaped her music by approaching top notes with a diminuendo.”