By Daniel Buckwalter

George Frideric Handel’s complete Messiah is an endurance test. It’s a three-hour, 53-movement fortitude check for the chorale, the orchestra, the soloists and the audience.
Messiah is not for the faint of heart.

You know what’s coming. You know you will have a full afternoon ahead, so you prepare yourself accordingly. You patiently wait for your favorite movements (some of which you may have memorized years ago and have selected on your iPhone), but after multiple listenings, you also take the time to appreciate movements that had escaped you previously. There is commanding Biblical text that is quoted throughout.

The oratorio is a reminder to all that sometimes it’s the music that makes the sacred text soar, and when it’s done well by a chorale and orchestra, Messiah is uplifting. It elevates the soul.

Such was the case on Dec. 15 when the Eugene Concert Choir and Orchestra — along with four soloists, all under the direction of conductor Diane Retallack — brought a nearly full house to its feet with a standing ovation at Hult Center’s Silva Concert Hall after a resounding performance of Messiah, and it was much deserved.

There was, as there always is with Messiah, the familiar, the vignettes that cover scripture from deep in the Old Testament to the Gospels, the New Testament to the Book of Revelation. The overture, Comfort Ye, And He shall Purify, Glory to God, He was despised, and The Trumpet Shall Sound were just a few of the movements I was looking forward to hearing again.

Then there were the absolute favorites — I know that my redeemer liveth, which I listen to regularly around Easter (beautifully sung by soprano Dawna Warren), and, of course, the raise-the-roof glory of the Hallelujah chorus (everyone stood).

Then shall the eyes of the blind and He shall feed his flock like a shepherd — with Warren and contralto Laura Thoreson teaming up — were pleasant surprises for me, and Why do the nations so furiously rage together? is a question with, apparently, no answers.

The Eugene Concert Choir’s performance of Messiah didn’t happen without a touch of drama. Thoreson was a (very) last-minute replacement for Rebecca Kamarei, who was ill. Performing almost on the fly, Thoreson handled her role with aplomb. It was a pleasure to watch her composure on stage and listen to her strong voice.

Along with Warren, tenor Demetrious Sampson Jr., baritone Levi Hernandez, the choir and orchestra, it was a wondrous afternoon for the Eugene Concert Choir, and its audience.