Does “Messiah” Need A Well-Deserved Rest?

Joshua Kosman loves Handel’s “Messiah.” Really, he does. And that’s why he thinks maybe it might be time to put it on the shelf for a few Christmases. “I think it might be time to give the piece a short rest — if only so that we might have a chance to hear the music’s brilliance afresh. “Messiah” is too much with us, I suspect.”