| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL: |
BELART |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
461
629-2 |
| UPC
NUMBER: |
028946162927 |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
3 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
3:20:35 |
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
1954 |
| CD
RELEASE
DATE: |
1999 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
SIR
ADRIAN
BOULT |
| ORCHESTRA: |
LONDON
PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
LONDON
PHILHARMONIC CHOIR |
| SOPRANO: |
JENNIFER
VYVYAN |
| ALTO: |
NORMA
PROCTER |
| TENOR: |
GEORGE
MARAN |
| BASS: |
OWEN
BRANNAGAN |
|
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DISC ONE
Part
I
1. Overture 4:45
2. Comfort ye, My people 4:03
3. Every valley shall be exalted 3:57
4. And the glory of the Lord 3:09
5. Thus saith the Lord 1:45
6. But who may abide 4:42
7. And He shall purify 2:37
8. Behold a Virgin shall conceive 0:34
9. O thou that tellest 6:23
10. For behold, darkness
shall cover the earth 2:37
11. The people that walked in darkness
3:34
12. For unto us a Child is born 4:18
13. Pastoral Symphony 3:22
14. There were shepherds/And lo! The Angel
of the Lord/And the Angel said unto
them/And suddenly there was with the
Angel 2:04
15. Glory to God 1:59
16. Rejoice greatly 4:59
17. Then shall the eyes of the blind 0:30
18. He shall feed His flock 6:20
19. His yoke is easy 2:37 |
DISC TWO
Part II
1. Behold the Lamb of God 3:56
2. He was despised 12:48
3. Surely He hath borne our griefs 2:45
4. And with His stripes 2:14
5. All we like sheep 4:35
6. All they that see Him 0:55
7. He trusted in God 2:48
8. Thy rebuke hath broken His heart 2:10
9. Behold, and see 1:48
10. He was cut off 0:20
11. But Thou didst not leave 2:54
12. Lift up your heads 3:30
13. Unto which of the Angels 0:25
14. Let all the Angels of God 1:44
15. Thou art gone up on high 3:34
16. The Lord gave the word 2:04
17. How beautiful are the feet 2:59
18. Their sound is gone out 1:55
19. Why do the nations 2:44
20. Let us break their bonds asunder 2:04
21. He that dwelleth in Heaven 0:17
22. Thou shalt break them 2:16
23. Hallelujah 4:35
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DISC
THREE
Part
III
1. I know that my Redeemer liveth
7:25
2. Since by man came death 1:59
3. Behold, I tell you a mystery
0:41
4. The trumpet shall sound 8:54
5. Then shall be brought to pass
0:25
6. O death, where is thy
sting?/But thanks be to God 4:18
7. If God be for us 5:59
8. Worthy is the Lamb... Amen 8:34
Handel
Arias
9. Ombra Mai fu (Largo) from
Xerxes 4:22
10. Air: Love in her Eyes Sits
Playing from
Acis and Galatea
6:28
11. Silent Worship (Did you not
hear my lady) from
Ptolemy 2:38
12. Recit: Deeper and Deeper
still;
Aria: Waft her, angels from
Jephtha 8:37
13. Where e'er you walk from
Semele 3:59
14. Recit: Thanks to my Brethren;
Aria: How vain is man from
Judas
Maccabaeus
7:21
15. Recit: My arms against this
gorgias will I go;
Aria: Sound an alarm from
Judas
Maccabaeus 3:59 |
|
SITE RATING: 8/10
SITE
REVIEW: Sir Adrian
Boult's 1954 mono Decca recording of Messiah
is one of the rarer ones on disc; I found my
copy of Belart's 1999 excellent 3-CD transfer
on eBay for under ten dollars, but as of this
writing, it's only readily available as an
import from the UK. (There is also a
3-CD version put out on Platinum/Prism, but it
is a vastly inferior vinyl transfer). In
some ways, the Boult Messiah is preferable over
those of his contemporary, Sir Thomas
Beecham (whom Boult despised), whose Messiahs
almost always contained cuts, and Boult's
recording is complete. Boult's style
certainly has its strengths besides its
completeness: although from the "old school"
of conducting, with slower, grander tempos,
Boult directs with a strong hand towards
dramatic accents, allowing the tempos to be
filled with small, interior "moments" which
flesh out the text. Sometimes however,
he allows his dramatic license to exceed
common sense - in what may be the longest "He
Was Despised" ever, Boult allows it to drag to
almost thirteen minutes in length!
However, the rest of the oratorio does
not suffer from that extreme largess.
The soloists are good - tenor George
Maran seems a trifle undernourished in his
tone - he sounds timid and nervous; soprano
Jennifer Vyvyan is surprisingly good - even by
modern standards, bringing an occasional pure
"white" tone to her arias that rivals
modern-day rivals. The sound, for being
in mono, is very warm and immediate - Belart's
reissue, much like Biddulph's
Beecham
Messiah,
is
filled out with arias from other Handel
oratorios and operas - in this instance with
performances by Kenneth McKellar.
Another worthy 1950s-era recording
that's worthy of a listen.
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