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DESCRIPTION:  This book on Handel's Messiah reflects Helmuth Rilling's remarkable skills, both as a conductor and as an educator. It is literally a 'study-guide' for conductors and performers which shows the step-by-step thought process Rilling uses in preparing a score - a methodology which can be applied to any work. More importantly, Rilling challenges the reader to probe Handel's thinking - to consider ways of more effectively communicating the deeper layers of meaning found within this masterwork. (H. Royce Saltzman, Executive Director Emeritus, Oregon Bach Festival)

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SITE RATING:  7/10 SITE REVIEW:  In reviews of Helmuth Rilling's recorded versions of Handel's oratorio, a word I've used without fail is 'idiosyncratic'.  And here, in his conductor's chair view of how one should conduct and perform Messiah, his dry, Germanic, terse personality comes to the fore, showing off not only his unique understanding of Handel's work, but WHY he believes it should be conducted the way he conducts it.  Be warned, this is not a chatty, nonchalant arm-chair discussion of the work, but a hammer-and nails, blow-by-blow account of how to conduct Messiah the way Helmuth Rilling conducts it.  He presents tempo choices, word emphasis, breaths, attacks, and so forth - not always explaining why he believes it should be done that way, but showing you that THAT is the way he believes it should be done.  Rigorous and scholarly, musical novices will probably be lost; but Messiah enthusiasts, and especially admirers of Helmuth Rilling's own quirky recordings, will find this fascinating and illuminating - although, it must be said, that if you really wanted to know how Rilling would conduct a Messiah, a good, close listen to any of his performances, and a score to follow along with, will achieve the same effect.

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