G.F. Handel: "Messiah"

No problems, Cookie. I've never heard the Richter version, but I know he could be a bit dull - some of his Bach is downright ponderous - but that's the way they did it 'way back then. It almost seems that, as "Messiah" was "religious" music (which is isn't by the way), it had to be treated with proper decorum and the approproate amount of sanctimoniousness. It ain't necessarily so. The town of Halle, where Handel was born, used to have a Handel festival, back in the days of the GDR (it may still do so). Everything was played with suitable pomp. Then someone invited John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdis - and Gardiner just about blew them out of their seats. They'd never heard anything like it.

My choice remains Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, but if "Messiah" ain't you, it ain't you.

 

Just discovered a nice new "Messiah" - the one recorded on Linn (CKD 285) by the Dunedin Consort & Players under John Butt. It's actually an SACD, but it works fine on a CD player. Classily sung, played and recorded. My one objection is that it's the original version as performed in Dublin (or as near as possible as one can get to it). This means that you lose the marvellous counter-tenor version of "For He is like a refiner's fire", written somewhat later for the star Italian castrato Guadagni in London. Otherwise, highly recommended.

 

Why pinpoint Messiah when GFH wrote dozens of similar oratorios. I once listened to Pinnock's recording expecting a masterpiece - in vain. GFH's great moment was "The arrival of the queen of Sheba (sp?)", in "Solomon".

 

Does anyone like Judas Macabeus? I've played it several times, and each time it slides further and further towards the pit that Elijah resides in. It only has one memorable melody, and the rest seems desperately dull. It's one of the reasons I gave up spending my saturdays in cold churches playing oratorios.

 

Because it's the best! I heard Pinnock's, and heard a masterpiece, one of the greatest works ever written. I guess it takes all sorts.

And I do like "The arrival of the Queen of Sheba"!

 

That's one of the Handel oratorios I haven't heard (apart from That Tune, of course).

 

I wouldn't bother!

 

A new one for the collection, found in a record shop in Basel yesterday, a re-release of a 1992 EMI recording:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...?q=messias+mozart+max&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&sa=G

This is "Der Messias", sung in German and rearranged by Mozart for some wealthy patrons. Mozart adapted Handel's text to comply with contemporary tastes (which found the baroque style old-fashioned), and to change things that could no longer be done, e.g., anything involving a clarino trumpet, the art of playing which had been largely lost. As a result, "The trumpet shall sound" (Sie shallt, die Posaun' (note, Posaune (trombone), not "trumpet")) is played by a horn, transposed down. The continuo instrumentation is largely gone (what there is of it is done by a fortepiano) and lots of new woodwind parts are added. The use of trumpets and drums is effective in "For unto us a Child is born" and (particularly) "Why do the nations?".

Although I still prefer the Handel version, I found this very good. Some excellent singers (including Christoph Prégardien) and good choir and orchestra. A very good tribute by one Master for another.

 

We have Pinnock version and having listened to a number of different versions still rate this as the 'best' for us.

'The Trumpet Shall Sound" being one of our key classical test tracks when liistening to different kit.

 

I have a version by Colin Davis and the London SO on Philips which is noted as being a "Gramophone Recommended Recording" and was pressed in 1966.

I enjoy this version and wondered as it has not been mention just how this version is regarded.

 

It has probably not been mentioned because nobody has ever heard it, Andy! "Messiah" has been recorded many times, and I'd imagine that few people have heard them all. Colin Davis was a good Handelian, so his recording should be good. He did one recording with a Bavarian orchestra and choir, and his first words in the first rehearsal were, "Forget the B Minor Mass, this is Italian opera". (The Germans tend to treat "Messiah" as a sacred work, which it never was). The resulting Italian opera recording was very good indeed.

 

Having seen some clips on YouTube, I acquired this from the ABC Shop Downunder:

http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=342322

You get 2 CDs and a DVD of the performance. This is an excellent performance, one of the best I've heard. The bass soloist, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, is especially good, singing the words as if he meant them - his "Why do the nations?" is, I think the best I've ever heard. The tempi are nice and choir and orchestra (original instruments) do a great job. I really expected the DVD to be Region 4 (I have a code-free machine), but to my surprise it played on my Region 2 machine.