The musical holiday season would not be complete without Handel’s Messiah, which can always be heard in the Princeton area at this time of the year. In this 275th anniversary of the work’s composition, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presented their annual Princeton performance of this popular work last Friday night to a full house at Richardson Auditorium. Joined by four vocal soloists and the Montclair State University Singers, a chamber-sized NJSO performed a quick-moving Messiah that featured an innovative and creative interpretation by guest conductor George Manahan.

George Frideric Handel composed the Messiah in the 18th-century English oratorio tradition, at which he excelled. Composed in a month’s time in 1941, Messiah tells the story of the life of Christ, with texts drawn from the Book of Common Prayer and Biblical verses from Isaiah and the Gospels. Structured in the customary oratorio format, Messiah is divided into recitatives, arias, choruses, and orchestral interludes, allowing ensembles to pare down the performance, if necessary, from its total run time of more than three hours.

No matter where cuts may occur elsewhere in the performance, most ensembles present the first part of Messiah as written, setting the dramatic scene. There is a myriad of approaches to 18th-century performance practice, and conductor Mr. Manahan began the Overture to Messiah in an elegant tempo without overly-dotted rhythmic figures. The orchestra incorporated an especially graceful effect of having instrumental passages repeated by a string quartet of principal first and second violins, viola and cello. The quartet and full ensemble seamlessly alternated musical passages, in a concerto style true to the time in which the work was written.

The four vocal soloists convey much of the story, often with the accompaniment of the chorus. Tenor Ryan MacPherson began his first accompanied recitative in a relaxed tempo, singing in a full voice which told the story well. The familiar “Comfort Ye” air exhibited well-executed crescendi within phrases from the orchestra, and Mr. MacPherson showed himself to be well chosen for this performance. His vocal sound was especially well-suited for the Part II “Thou shalt break them,” which preceded the “Hallelujah” chorus.

Mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips handled well the difficult registers of her arias, which Handel originally wrote for a favorite contralto. Ms. Phillips demonstrated an immediate command of music and text, also telling the story well with a good vocal quality for this period of music. One of the most problematic arias for mezzos in this work is the Part II “He was despised,” a song of sorrow which Ms. Phillips interpreted with nicely-tapered phrase endings but with a bit of a severe approach to the text. Her smooth registers were also evident in a duet with soprano Patricia Schuman.

Ms. Schuman and bass-baritone David Pittsinger showed the difficulty of selecting opera singers with full dramatic voices to maneuver the refinement and restraint of an 18th-century work. Ms. Schuman was light on the extensive vocal runs of “Rejoice greatly” and was elegantly accompanied in the “Angel” recitatives, but in some of the more lyrical passages, it seemed she wanted to produce much more sound than was appropriate for the music. Mr. Pittsinger was most comfortable at the top of his register in “The trumpet shall sound,” (crisply accompanied by trumpet soloist Garth Greenup) and in the dramatic “Why do the nations rage so furiously together,” but his coloratura singing seemed mechanical at times and he occasionally looked unhappy with his own performance. A veteran of the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Pittsinger is clearly used to being able to cut loose vocally and fill a huge space and orchestra with his voice.

Despite the extensive solo work, Messiah has always been known as a work for chorus. For Friday night’s performance, the Montclair State University Singers had been well prepared by Heather Buchanan. The chorus was consistently well balanced, with a young and fresh sound from the sopranos and uniform vowel production from all sections. The women in particular sang with a very forward sound to cut through the orchestra, and it was refreshing that the choristers were able to fully sing out. The coloratura writing in such choruses as “And he shall purify” was clean, and although some passages required more meat from the men’s sections, the tenors were light and clear, and the basses provided a good choral foundation. Following Ms. Schuman’s “Angel” recitatives, the chorus uniquely began “Glory to God” as if from afar — evoking a chorus of angels gradually getting closer to the action.

The members of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra who played this performance were consistently focused on clean articulation and lean playing. Led by a continuo trio of harpsichordist Robert Wolinsky, portatif organist Masayuki Maki, and cellist Jonathan Spitz, the orchestra provided well-defined playing throughout the work, emphasized by an imaginative performance of solo quartets within the ensemble.

Messiah is a long piece, and Mr. Manahan omitted sections which cut the work down for the audience but retained its familiarity. Messiah is a piece for scholars, but an ultimate goal is to entertain and inspire audiences, and Friday night’s performance by New Jersey Symphony Orchestra succeeded in both.

The orchestra’s next Princeton performance will be on Friday, January 20, 2017 at 8 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium. Featured will be violinist Pinchas Zukerman, and the music of Barber, Beethoven, and Saint-Saëns. For information call (800) ALLEGRO or visit www.njsymphony.org.