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I didn't see anywhere in the OP the claim to make the Messiah "better" than Händel's original, even though I see how it can be interpreted that way (and maybe it was in fact the intention, I don't know). But if we leave a way the idea to make it "better", what's wrong with it then? Should we disregard all arrangements, orchestrations and re-interpretations that have been made through history, from 16th century parody masses over 19th century re-arrangements of pieces to, say, Kurtàg's arrangements of Bach chorals? Or should we just allow something like this to "first-class composers"? Should it therefore be considered "presumptuous" to orchestrate a piano piece, as that is like saying the piano piece isn't already "perfect as it is"?
I see the issues with this particular project: The wording of the OP seems a bit bold and the desire to make orchestration so huge might seem excessive. And yes, it's possible that it will never be played. But do any of these make the musical goal worthless per se? What's fundamentally wrong with taking a new, individual take on an existing piece?
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