Search - Handel, Morison, Thomas :: Messiah

Not for the Authentic Instrument Crowd!

01/10/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This recording of "Messiah" is the complete antithisis of all the Original" or "Authentic" instrument recordings that are on the market. This is basically how Messiah had been performed right up to the 1970s. It is also a much easier to listen to recording than the RCA Beecham recording. It runs circles around the Musica Sacra recording on RCA. For those that prefer a full bodied reverent sounding recording of Messiah this is clearly a first choice."

Glorious!

Victor A. Vyssotsky | Orleans, MA USA | 03/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Because during his lifetime Handel normally conducted "The Messiah" himself, and had to use whatever chorus and instruments were available where he happened to be performing, his score gives little clue as to how he wanted it to sound. So any modern performance, including this one, involves a very considerable interpretation. And because lots of conductors, orchestras and choral groups have recorded it, one can find many widely varying interpretations.Of the ones I've heard, I like this one best. Sir Malcolm Sergant had studied "The Messiah" for forty years when he made this recording, and had performed it annually for 20 years with the Liverpool Orchestra and the Huddersfield Choral Society; this was his third recording of "The Messiah", done in 1959 and remastered by EMI in 1990. The sound quality is very much better than one would expect in a 1959 recording, because in 1959 EMI recorded it for vinyl on the "Angel" label, for which they used the high-quality (and high-cost) recording equipment that became available in the late '50s. It's better quality than the sound in the second recording, also "Angel", which I still have on vinyl.The sound quality is important because the Huddersfield Choral Society is fantastic. Partly this is because the Society is very, very good; partly it's because Sargent hand-picked the soloists for his performances of "The Messiah". The result is so good that whenever I play it I find myself physically in motion around the room; it literally brings me out of my chair. It offers insight into what Handel said about composing it: "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the Great God Himself.""

The Most Human Solos, and the biggest heart

P. Schierhorn | New Orleans, LA USA | 12/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, it's a BIG performance of Messiah. Malcolm Sargent uses Mozart's orchestral sketches (!) to add brass and woodwinds to the orchestra. The Hudddersfield Choir feels like the whole city of Liverpool. If you're looking for your stripped-down Messiah, this isn't it. And yet......the solos are absolutely remarkable. NEVER have I heard soloists so honor the words, and blend them with such heartfelt feeling into Handel's incredible melodies. The majesty of their performances nicely balances the majesty of the SIZE of the choruses. Sargent and company obviously feel Handel's quote after he finished writing MESSIAH: "I did think that I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.""