| RECORDINGS |
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| LABEL: |
RCA
VICTOR |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
09026-61266-2 |
| UPC
NUMBER: |
090266126620 |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
3 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
161:18 |
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
1959 |
| CD
RELEASE DATE: |
JUNE
14, 1992 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
SIR
THOMAS BEECHAM |
| ORCHESTRA: |
ROYAL
PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
ROYAL
PHILHARMONIC CHORUS |
| SOPRANO: |
JENNIFER
VYVYAN |
| MEZZO-SOPRANO: |
MONICA
SINCLAIR |
| TENOR: |
JON
VICKERS |
| BASS: |
GIORGIO
TOZZI |
|
| AUDIO SAMPLES |
HIGHLIGHTS |
OTHER
RELEASES |
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DISC ONE
1. Overture
2. Recit: Comfort ye, my people
3. Air: Every valley shall be exalted
4. Chorus: And the glory of the Lord
5. Recit: Thus saith the Lord of Hosts
6. Air: But who may abide
7. Chorus And He shall purify
8. Recit: Behold, a virgin shall
conceive
9. Air & Chorus: O thou that tellest
good tidings
10. Recit: For, behold, darkness shall
cover
11. Air: The people that walked in
darkness
12. Chorus: For unto us a child is born
13. Pastoral Symphony
14. Recit: There were shepherds abiding
15. Recit: And the angel said unto them
16. Recit: And suddenly there was
17. Chorus: Glory to God in the highest
18. Air: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion
19. Recit: Then shall the eyes
20. Air: He shall feed his flock; Come
unto Him
21. Chorus: His yoke is easy
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DISC TWO
1.
Chorus:
Behold the Lamb of God
2. Air: He was despised
3. Chorus: Surely He hath borne our
griefs
4. Chorus: And with His stripes we are
healed
5. Chorus: All we like sheep have gone
astray
6. Recit: All they that see Him
7. Chorus: He trusted in God
8. Recit: Thy rebuke hath broken His
heart
9. Air: Behold, and see if there be
10. Recit: He was cut off out of the
land
11. Air: But Thou didst not leave
12. Chorus: Lift up your heads
13. Air: How beautiful are the feet
14. Chorus: Their sound is gone out into
all lands
15. Air: Why do the nations so furiously
rage together?
16. Chorus: Let us break their bonds
asunder
17. Recit: He that dwelleth in heaven
18. Chorus: Hallelujah!
19. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth
20. Chorus: Since by man came death
21. Rect: Behold, I tell you a mystery
22. Air: The trumpet shall sound
23. Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb
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DISC THREE
APPENDIX
1. Recit: Unto which of the angels
2. Chorus: Let all the angels of God
worship Him
3. Air: Thou art gone up on high
4. Chorus: The Lord gave the word
5. Recit: Then shall be brought to
pass
6. Duet: O death, where is thy sting?
7. Chorus: But thanks be to God
8. Air: If God be for us |
|
SITE RATING: 8/10
SITE
REVIEW: The Beecham Messiah
of 1959 is another early stereo recording that
polarizes listeners, with understandable
cause. Like the Ormandy
Messiah
(with its liberal cuts) or the Bernstein Messiah (which
changes
the order around), The Beecham recording
incites friction on a couple of counts, the
most egregious being the re-orchestration
arranged by Sir Eugene Goossens. Now,
not many purists are going to get their
feathers ruffled by the likes of someone like
Mozart giving Handel an orchestral face lift,
but HE was a genius - Sir Eugene Goossens most
certainly was not, hard-working and
accomplished as he may have been.
Goossens' additions have the effect of
turning Messiah into a large-scale carnival of
sound, with the extra instruments bouncing in
and out like a child trying desperately to get
an adult's attention. Beecham's
explanation for the re-orchestrations are
logical enough; during the past two centuries,
Messiah
had played to larger and larger houses, and
proportionately larger forces were needed to
push the sound out. Handel himself would
add or subtract orchestral parts based on
circumstance, and so Sir Thomas Beecham
certainly felt no qualms about "punching up"
the orchestra with oboes, extra brass,
timpani, and cymbals to bring added thunder to
the piece. Purists will howl, but that
is, indeed, the way it was, in the 1950s and
before, and to argue that the period
instrument movement is an improvement is
simply a modern conceit. As to the
performance, yes, it's much slower than modern
baroque revivals tolerate, but the playing,
singing, and emotion displayed is truly
luscious; I'm especially taken with Jennifer
Vyvyan's lovely "How Beautiful Are The Feet",
and the glory and grandeur of "Let Us Break
Their Bonds Asunder" is a rival of any version
anywhere. And I daresay you will not
hear a more thunderous, expansive version of
the "Hallelujah" chorus ever, and yes, it is
thrilling, even though it's odd to hear a
triangle, of all things, ringing out during
the final chord. This recording also
garners extra points from me due to the
inclusion of an appendix disc, in which Sir
Thomas attempted to identify extant pieces of
Messiah
which had popped in and out of various
editions, making this set the first to
recognize that Handel had, in fact, often
tinkered with his work. Of course, if
you're going to choose just one Messiah
to start your collection, the Beecham would
not be my first choice, but it's a stirring
and powerful performance that's idiosyncratic
enough to merit serious consideration from
listeners (with open minds) of all
dispositions. ~ BDW
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