SITE RATING: 5/10
SITE
REVIEW: I know many
people prefer this recording over more modern
interpretations, and in fact, this was the
first Messiah
I owned. I purchased it on CD after
having sung in Messiah with my father, and
this seemed to be a good representation of my
own experience, with a large chorus and
orchestra thundering their way through the
oratorio with little real style or
differentiation between movements. The
soloists are, without exception, large voiced,
coming from the world of opera, and Andrew
Davis deliberately chose to shy away from the
period-instrument movement, in what can only
be described as a reactionary move against
what he must have seen as a break with
long-standing, "large forces" Messiah
tradition. The only thing I can say
about his particular recording is that I
listen to it perhaps least of all my
recordings. It sat on my shelf year
after year gather dust, and when I took it
down, I would listen to a few select cuts, and
then, satisfied, back it would go on the
shelf. I eventually got rid of it,
realizing that it didn't move me, or stir me
emotionally in any way. The largeness
of this reading, the heavy gravitas with with
the soloists approach each aria, (especially
the throaty, dark tones of Samuel Ramey) and
the bland dynamic range of the chorus simply
faded in my memory, and for many years, I
thought the thrill that I had felt when
singing Messiah was an empty memory, a feeling
reinforced by this recording. I have
since had my eyes opened by more recent
recordings, and although I can say that this
is fine recording for its time, I have little
desire to recommend it to anyone. ~ BDW
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