Handel: Messiah

This is the thinking man’s Messiah, and what I’m thinking is that musical taste is a very individual and personal thing. Like tannic red wines and Limburger, not everyone enjoys them equally, and so it is with this interpretation of the Messiah. The Baroque orchestra often adjusted the score to accommodate the number and skill of the players and so, a vocal score was adapted to the singers available for that performance. Secondly, Baroque orchestras were in some ways the jazz orchestras of their day, adapting and interpreting the score to their own personal styles and skills.Next, I have to consider that a true Baroque orchestra, using period instruments, naturally has a limited palate from which to draw sound. Period brass instruments, for instance, are “valve less” thus they are necessarily cast in different roles in a Baroque orchestra than in a modern orchestra. The Freiburger Barockorchester uses all period instruments, for which they have been repeatedly lauded as being masters of an extremely tough craft. But, that makes it impossible for them to replicate the sound of a modern full scale symphony orchestra playing a contemporary interpretation of Handel’s Messiah. Just because the lavish renditions of the Messiah that we grew up on might make us feel that this one is weak by comparison, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a masterful performance in its own right. No, it’s not lush and pillowed, or syrupy or meaty. It’s distilled and accurate to the period. It uses a 1750 score, from the very end of the Baroque period, giving it historical perspective from the outset, and then the spectacular skills of the Freiberger Barockorchester allow us to relive the period in historically accurate reality. It may be as close to time travel as we are ever allowed to come.Similarly, the vocal soloists add flourishes, personal interpretations, and their “take” on the libretto as they wend their way through the complex runs and phrasings that G.F. Handel wrote to challenge them. Are they singing every note of the score as written in 1750? Probably not, but this is “jazz” after all, and we have no right to expect that every performance sounds like the ones we grew up with singing in the choir or hearing on the Christmas music station.Lastly, like every great orchestral performance, we are subject to the interpretation of the conductor. Here René Jacobs has a lot of input into the dynamics, the tempo, and the phrasing. Again, whether or not it’s what you expect to hear isn’t the point. It’s HIS interpretation, and as such if it doesn’t dovetail with your expectations, you might even find certain passages and especially some of the endings jarring. Or, maybe it’s just the refreshing change you were looking for. Stripped of the syrup of overproduction, played from an ancient score with period instruments, and sung by extremely talented vocalists, I find this recording to be very satisfying and appealing. It’s as if the piece has exited from behind the veil of commercialism and is presented here in its native innocence.Will it appeal to you? There’s no more guarantee than whether or not you will like Cohibas, Bordeaux, or Benny Goodman. It’s too personal a thing to predict. Me? I love it; Most of it, that is. There are some phrasings and dynamics that still pique me with each listening. But, on the whole, I think it’s worth the experience to hear this iconic and masterful work in this period interpretation and give it a chance to endear itself to your tastes. I believe that, if approached with and open mind an understanding of its origins and purpose, this recording will supplement your enjoyment of the Messiah. Not replacing others you may be used to, but giving you a new dictionary through which to translate them.

This popular account of Handel's Messiah from 1966 has long been a favorite in the catalogs due to its precise intermediate sized ensemble and excellent team of soloists. Colin Davis led an exciting propulsive account that in hind sight, served as a bridge to the so-called historically informed (HIP) performances that have became popular since the early 1980s with the introduction of the CD. It's closest competition came a year later from Charles Mackerras' EMI recording with the Ambrosian chorus, English Chamber Orchestra and another fine team of soloists led by Janet Baker. That particular recording boasts a slight bit more ornamentation in the solos but what one hears in Davis' account is certainly adequate and spontaneous without sounding too ostentatious.A newer account by Davis, again with the London Symphony & Chorus but recorded live with DSD technology on LSO records is very similar although he has his modern orchestra play with the reduced vibrato and swelled dynamics common to HIP approaches. Frankly, it doesn't sound superior to this classic 1966 studio account.The chorus here does not sing with straight tone as period ensembles do today, although they are quite accurate in intonation and precise in ensemble. They numbered sufficient voices to achieve a nice massed sound but small enough to maintain precision in the melisma laden choruses. Of the soloists, Soprano Heather Harper and Alto Helen Watts are particularly outstanding with a rich resonant but light & flexible account of the bass solos from baritone John Shirley-Quirk. The tenor, John Wakefield (who is the only soloist not pictured in the accompanying notes) had a somewhat covered and dark sound, not as attractive as that of his colleagues but he sings accurately and expressively.This recording was released at a time when audiences were more accustomed to Victorian styled Messiah performances with large forces and massive pipe organs. There is something to be said for the grandeur and power of such forces, but not so much for their flexibility or nimbleness at fast tempi. For those of us who are either weary of, or not infatuated with the sound of period ensembles, it's a joy to hear a hybrid approach as revealed in this release. It's a demonstration quality disc, representative of the best you can hear from Blu-Ray technology. The Philips engineers were among the best of their day, capturing a detailed warm resonant sound stage with depth and a total lack of clipping or distortion. You can hear more detail than was ever possible on vinyl. In fact, my account of this on low quality american pressings was severely marred by pops and clicks thankfully absent on digital media. The high resolution afforded by Blu-Ray also eliminates the digital artifacts heard on early CD releases while requiring only one disc to contain the performance normally requiring 2 CDs. For those who are fond of this recording, if you have a Blu-Ray player connected to a good stereo, I recommend you acquire this and hear what an outstanding remastering job the engineers have done.If you seek a newer digital recording that also mixes period practice with modern instruments and larger forces, I recommend the EMI Toronto Symphony recording led by Andrew Davis. His team of soloists is the very finest on disc: Kathleen Battle, Florence Quivar, John Aler and Sam Ramey. That remains my favorite Messiah recording, but this one has a warm place in my heart and sounds absolutely incredible on Blu-Ray. This is one of the most successful remasterings I've heard. Kudos to both the original engineers and those who remastered it on Blu-ray.

I heard this music on Classic FM about 10 years ago. It impressed me then by the emotional feeling in the music that can be lacking in other versions. Having lost our copy of Handel's Messiah , it was the obvious choice to replace it. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone unfamiliar or with only rudimentary knowledge of this music. Handel's Messiah has many exquisite moments of breathtaking beauty, it is our favourite piece of classical music.

This pure audio blue ray disc is only in stereo but is still excellent' value for money conducted by sir Colin Davis in 1966 for DECCA Records at 2.4 hours shows that with blu ray you can have HD Audio with lots of time all on just one disc. An excellent sound in stereo with lots of detail and amazing dynamics.

Very clear and sharp. Excellent.

Schließe mich der positiven Rezension an. Sehr stimmig, so macht der Messiah "spaß"! Ist wahrlich nicht bei allen Produktionen so - geht nämlich durchaus auch langweilig! Dazu noch eine qualitativ hochwertige neuere Aufnahme.Aber ist ja auch alles Geschmackssache.

The recording is not good.