| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL: |
TOO
HOT TO HANDEL, LLC |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
N/A |
| UPC
NUMBER: |
N/A |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
2 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
102:30 |
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
2005? |
| CD
RELEASE DATE: |
2005 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
MARIN
ALSOP |
| ORCHESTRA: |
COLORADO
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
COLORADO
SYMPHONY CHORUS, MAJESTIC PRAISE
CHOIR |
| SOPRANO: |
LILIAS
WHITE |
| MEZZO-SOPRANO: |
VIVIAN
CHERRY |
| TENOR: |
THOMAS
YOUNG |
| BASS: |
N/A |
|
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DISC ONE
1. Sinfonia 3:34
2. Comfort Ye 3:12
3. Every Valley 5:12
4. And the Glory of the Lord
2:13
5. Thus Said the Lord
5:03
6. But Who May Abide
3:44
7. And He Shall Purify
2:56
8. Behold a Virgin Shall Conceive
2:11
9. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to
Zion 5:32
10. For Behold Darkness Shall Cover the
Earth 5:22
11. The People That Walked In Darkness
3:08
12. For Unto Us a Child Is Born
4:22
13. There Were Shepards Abiding In the
Field 6:22
|
DISC TWO
14. And
Suddenly There Was an Angel
1:02
15. Glory to God 4:05
16. Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion
2:33
17. Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be
Opened 0:54
18. He Shall Feed His Flock
4:33
19. His Yoke Is Easy
5:55
20. Behold the Lamb of God
3:36
21. Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs
4:10
22. All We Like Sheep
3:39
23. He Trusted In God That He Would
Deliver Him 3:12
24. Behold I Tell You a Mystery
1:18
25. The Trumpet Shall Sound
3:52
26. The Lord Gave the Word
2:31
27. Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage
6:38
28. Hallelujah! 6:21 |
|
SITE RATING: 4/10
SITE
REVIEW: Falling
somewhere between the revisionist highs of A Soulful
Celebration and the histrionic
lows of Messiah Rocks!
comes the uneasy hybrid of Too Hot To
Handel: The Gospel Messiah,
brainchild of conductor Marin Alsop and
arrangers/composers Bob Christianson and Gary
Anderson. To be fair, this recording is
probably NOT the best way to be introduced to
this work, since, by all reports, it comes off
much better in a live setting (and with
different performers) than we get on this
album. I wasn't expecting too much pure
gospel soul to come out of the Colorado
Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, and my
expectations were sadly met.
Christianson and Anderson try to
re-score Messiah
into a swing/jazz/gospel fusion, with a brass
section, drums, and a Hammond B-3 Organ
joining the string section; but instead of
feeling free and easy, I got the distinct
impression that I was hearing a bunch of white
people trying to "get funky" - and
failing miserably. Not unlike seeing
your high-school marching band blaring out a
cover version of "Proud Mary" - they may have
all the notes right, but it's not going to
make anyone forget the original. Here we
have distinctly staid classical soloists who
try and "get down" with the gospel choir and
swinging rhythms - but it's a mismatch from
the word go - tenor Thomas Young has far too
wide a vibrato for the jazz/swing style called
for; the choirs (a duel between the Colorado
Symphony Chorus and the Majestic Praise Choir)
have huge stylistic clashes; and the entire
program feels like too many cooks tried
getting their licks in. Lacking the
transcendent power of Handel's masterwork, yet
unable to bring the virtuoso R&B abandon
which Quincy Jones did so convincingly on his
release, Too
Hot To Handel is actually tepid - a
lukewarm offering that I found distinctly
unappealing.
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