Search - Handel, Sargent, Bardgett :: Messiah

Sir Malcolm Sargent is the BEST!

C. Gallagher | Dallas TX USA | 11/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best recording of the Messiah - EVER!!! I've heard (among others) the "period" performance w/ the orginal instruments as intended by the composer (Handel) performed by the Dallas Bach Society... But Sir Malcolm's 1946 recording w/ Isobel Baillie, Gladys Ripley, etc. is the BEST in every way. It is the most tasteful, emotional, passionate, yet restrained, and sensitive. It is just beautiful. WELL DONE."

Serendipity.

DA Phillipps | NZ | 10/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I owned a set of the original Columbia 78s from which this disk is taken. It gave me many hours of good listening, but even shellac won't stand heavy tone arms and steel needles forever. I tried other versions, "original" versions, male-only versions (castrati, anyone?) but none matched this. I wasn't looking for it, or even for "The Messiah" when I stumbled across it. I see the manufacturer has stopped production, and there are only two left. Grab one while you can.



The remastering is superb. Not a scratch, not a click, not a hiss anywhere. Anyone having doubts about playing a 1946 recording on modern equipment can put them to rest. Dutton Labs have worked wonders. I've heard this quality of remastering on TV soundtracks, but I've never come across it in the public domain before."