Search - George Frederick Handel, Hermann Scherchen, Wiener Staatsopernorchester :: Handel: Messiah

Not the best Scherchen

Robert Sherman | Gaithrsburg MD | 06/15/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I've had this one since 1957 when it came out on LP. Scherchen's 1954 mono recording was revolutionary in that it used Handel's original orchestration (fortunately with modern instruments) and had a true baroque conception as opposed to the pseudo-Romantic approach everyone else was using. Tenor William Herbert and trumpeter George Eskdale were outstanding; baritone Richard Standen and alto Constance Shacklock also had a lot of good moments.This 1957 recording was apparently motivated by the need to "do it in stereo." But it's not as good as the original. The Viennese chorus does not sing English as it should be sung, and the soloists are undistiguished. Standen, who sings on both, is better in the earlier recording. The only really fine part of this recording is the opening of the Amen chorus.So I hope there will soon be a re-issue of the better 1954."

The Way It Should be Played

William A. Brock | Cleveland Ohio, but living in St. Louis, MO | 02/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many years ago I bought some used records which included this recording. Having heard the Messiah many time before I was a little taken back by this version, as parts of it seemed to be off speed or tempo. What I found out later was that this recording was based upon the original score as written by Handel and not the more modern version performed by most orchestras and choirs today. The funny thing was, the more I played these records the more I liked them compared to the newer version. When the records wore out, I search the Internet and to my surprise it had been reissued on CD. I was truly elated! This verison takes a little getting use to because of the tempo, but if you play it a little loud, like you are in front of the orchestra, it is truly wonderful. The piece is so nice it is hard to do other things while it is playing. I find it so interesting that some pieces of music are so moving that one really transcends the music, you don't hear it you just experience it. This CD is as close to that feeling as one can get listening to recorded music."

Odd, individual, and gripping--then and now

pclaudel | New York City | 01/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like Mr. Murphy and "a Listener," this reviewer has owned and listened to this performance for fifty years. Why it is almost always compared unfavorably with Scherchen's earlier mono recording is a mystery. As Johannes Climacus has mentioned in his insightful review, the chorus here (perhaps because it is Austrian rather than English) bridles far less at the conductor's manifold idiosyncrasies than does its London counterpart. In addition, the extent to which one marks the choristers' German accent has been exaggerated (critical exaggeration should surprise no one, since exaggeration of one sort or another is a hallmark of this performance). Indeed, most of the time no inappropriate accent is present, and even at worst it is not bad enough to merit complaint, certainly in comparison with the American accents that have spoilt a great many Messiah accounts from this side of the Atlantic. On the strongly plus side, the Vienna chorus, small and professional, sings with fully supported tone and astonishing virtuosity. Not even the Sixteen or the Dunedin Consort articulates the runs in "And he shall purify" with fewer aspirates. (Even though this account of Messiah runs 195 minutes--it is thus fully an hour longer than a number of lickety-split modern accounts--this chorus is one of several that Scherchen conducts as fast as or faster than anyone else.)



It is not only the chorus, however, that makes this performance arguably superior to Scherchen's mono London performance. Despite the fact that certain passages that should have been given retakes weren't--evidently there were budget and time constraints (plus ça change!)--the Vienna instrumentalists are never less than the equal of the Londoners and often their superior (the solo trumpet and solo violin are especially fine). As Climacus contends, too, the interpretation has a more settled feel overall. Pace this gentleman, however, many "extreme" tempos remain; for example, the Amen is fully two minutes slower than before (roughly 8.5 minutes). If one can unlearn the listening habits of the past forty years, the experience of Scherchen's Amen chorus may spoil one for all others (all praise to the Dunedin performance, by the way, whose Amen chorus rivals this one in expressive depth while taking half the time [Messiah - Dublin Version 1742]).



The few adverse remarks about Simoneau's performance are baffling. He stands at the windswept summit of Messiah tenors. None can match him for beauty of voice, control of breath, musicianship, musicality, subtlety, and expressive range. That the worthy Climacus hears a French accent in Simoneau's singing is puzzling. Simoneau grew up in a bilingual Canadian household and spoke English without a trace of an accent (he never even sounded especially Canadian). All of his vowels are truly native (no French nasality), and his consonants are pronounced in the English (i.e., rather than American) fashion appropriate to this repertory. To hear truly accented singing in Messiah, one need only go to the two Harnoncourt performances (though only the second has been widely praised, both are admirable). The unfortunate Marjana Lipovsek (in the first; Handel: Messiah) and the splendid Christine Schäfer (in the second; Handel: Messiah [Hybrid SACD]) would make a resuscitated Handel, who to the day of his death spoke heavily German-accented English, feel right at home.



Climacus is right about Alarie's "jus-ti-fee-eth"; as this linguistic lapse is her only sin, she deserves to be spared stoning. Her performance is otherwise wonderful; only Ameling, Felicity Palmer, Kirkby, and one or two other sopranos are her peers. The air "If God be for us," wherein she mispronounces "justifieth," embodies a good example of her artistry. At a duration of ten minutes (a typical timing is 4.5 minutes), Scherchen--seeking to mine the profundity of the biblical text--sets a tempo that makes almost unmeetable demands upon the breath control and interpretative resources of the singer. This being the last air in the oratorio, Scherchen treats it as the capstone of the individual's response to the Gospel (the following group of choruses, culminating in the grandest of all Amens, is the community's response). Alarie's singing--ethereal but sustained, responsive to text and music but not vulgarly overstated--superbly realizes Scherchen's vision of Handel's score.



Richard Standen, the bass, also took part in the earlier Scherchen performance and unquestionably sang much better there. Here he is often a trial, but even so, the complete absence of a wobble in his dry, hollow sound is not a negligible compensation. Interpretatively, Standen is no Shirley-Quirk, but very few basses are in that league (certainly not the overrated and soon-irritating Gerald Finley).



This Messiah is not something for everyday listening, and no one under the age of fifty who finds it incomprehensible and unbearable should be chided. It is the product of another world, another time; even when it was new, it was caviar to the general. So it is still."