There's a great deal of talk about Judgement Day in Handel's "Messiah," but Friday night in Heinz Hall, it sounded as if the conductor thought it might come at any moment, so blistering were his tempos.

Again and again, guest conductor Julian Wachner showed disregard for singers' mechanics by speeding the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra through the great oratorio.

Those "that tellest good tidings" had to speak awfully fast under his direction and these sheep weren't just "gone astray," but seriously running.

Perhaps Wachner thought he was tapping into the historical document with these fast tempos, as many early music conductors have shown to be extremely effective. But while it is true that contemporary performances of "Messiah" can be grand, Romantic and slow, there is no authenticity in conducting faster than a singer can sing. Even the strongest adherents of using quicker tempos don't do that. "Messiah's" many glories include its light and bouncy runs, but the Mendelssohn singers were barely able to form the consonants at these tempos. Magnificent choruses such as "And he shall purify," "For unto us a child is born" and "He trusted in God," galloped along with little regard for text, vocal cords or musical phrasing.

This criticism is not an indictment of Betsy Burleigh, the choir's director. On the contrary, when the group had a moment to breathe, it exhibited an excellent balance, sonorous timbre and a light phrasing appropriate to the music (helped by the perfect number of singers at about 50). "And with his stripes we are healed" was particularly impressive.

Wachner was no better in his handling of the soloists: soprano Joanna Mongiardo, mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, tenor Daniel Weeks and bass Michael Dean. When he wasn't hurrying them through arias, Wachner was providing pregnant pauses of a theatrical, not artistic, nature. Dean's wonderfully dark voice rarely was allowed to blossom, and every time Lattimore or Mongiardo began to express something with real feeling in "Oh Thou that tellest" and "I know that my redeemer liveth," Wachner all but cut them off. In fact, "He was cut off" was less a recitative sung by Mongiardo in Part 2 of the oratorio than a commonplace occurrence in the recitatives. Wachner insisted on micromanaging, often trying to stop them before the phrasing had run its natural course.

Also, few of the principals of the orchestra were present in the pared-back group, and two of the better movements, "Lift up your heads, o ye gates" and "The Lord gave the word," were left out, making this a disappointing concert. With the rushing and a constantly strong attack in the strings, moments of profundity were glossed over and moments of contrast, such as the middle section of "But who may abide the day of his coming" that speaks of refiner's fire, didn't stand out.

But there are two bits of good news. One, if you liked the concert, you are lucky, because you have the chance to really like "Messiah" if you catch a better performance. And, two, the New Year is soon upon us, with a clean slate (and a good slate of PSO concerts, too).

Hallelujah to that.