I was playing in a Messiah with the SCO last night.  People assume that if you're a harpsichordist you spend the entire Christmas season playing in Messiah, but I hardly do any.  In fact, I lost my score a few years ago and had to buy a new one of Clifford Bartlett's edition last week. Trying to come to it as you would any other piece is very interesting.  I've an idea in the back of my mind (which may come to nothing) of putting on a New Year's Day performance sometime, so it's been a useful exercise getting to know the score again, by playing it. Some of it is undeniably wonderful: the Sinfony at the beginning, The trumpet shall sound, Comfort ye, Hallelujah, and more are Handel at his best, but a lot of it is obviously unfinished.  Harmonically it goes a bit wonky from time to time, and some of the choruses could be a bit more focused in intent.  Going by the definition of a masterpiece as something you couldn't improve, it clearly isn't one, presumably because Mr Handel never had the time to finish improving it.  Jennens did a fantastic job with the libretto though. 

It's been so long since I've played in an orchestra that I'd forgotten some of the things that go through your head on stage in that environment, when responsibility for the overall effect is solely delegated to the guy standing up with his back to the audience waving his arms around.  Depending on the musical circumstances at the time, you can be thinking 'this is fun', but it's just as likely to be 'who's that in the fifth row?', 'did the fiddles really have to bow it like that?', or 'I would rather be anywhere but here, when can I get off?'. One member of the orchestra (no names) admitted in the interval: 'I just think about sex - it gets you through it, doesn't it?'  I don't think she was joking. This is why I don't like orchestras much: they take a bunch of great musicians and stop them from making music.