RECORDINGS
MMS-2019
LABEL: THE MUSICAL MASTERPIECE SOCIETY
CATALOG NUMBER: MMS-2019
UPC NUMBER: N/A
NUMBER OF DISCS: 2
RUNNING TIME: UNKNOWN
YEAR RECORDED: 195?
CD RELEASE DATE: N/A
CONDUCTOR: WALTER GOEHR
ORCHESTRA: NETHERLANDS PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
CHOIR: UNKNOWN
SOPRANO: ADRIENNE COLE
CONTRALTO: WATTY KRAP
TENOR: LEO LARSEN
BARITONE: GUUS HOEKMAN


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AUDIO SAMPLES HIGHLIGHTS OTHER RELEASES

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Classics Club
                              CCHN X73/74


DISC ONE

A1    Sinfonia   
A2    Comfort Ye
A3    Ev'ry Valley  
A4    Thus Saith The Lord
A5    But Who May Abide
A6    Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive   
A7    O Thou That Tellest
   
B1    For Behold 
B2    The People That Walked
B3    For Unto Us
B4    Pastoral Symphony 
B5    There Were Shepherds  
B6    Glory To God     
B7    Then Shall The Eyes
B8    He Shall Feed His Flock   
B9    Behold The Lamb   

DISC TWO

C1    All They That See Him
C2    He Trusted In God
C3    Thy Rebuke 
C4    Behold And See  
C5    He Was Cut Off
C6    But Thou Didst Not Leave
C7    Lift Up Your Heads
C8    Why Do The Nations
C9    Let Us Break  
C10  He That Dwelleth in Heaven
C11  Thou Shalt Break Them

D1    Hallelujah   
D2    I Know That My Redeemer
D3    Since By Man   
D4    Behold, I Tell You A Mystery   
D5    The Trumpet Shall Sound   
D6    Worthy Is The Lamb
D7    Amen

SITE RATING:  5/10
SITE REVIEW:  One of those mysterious releases that has no provenance, no date, and few searchable names to ascribe to it, this two-LP box set, ostensibly from the Musical Masterpiece Society, and conducted by Walter Goehr, it features an earnest performance which I can only say sounds like it might be from the mid-fifties, based entirely upon its sound, tempos, and the artists involved.  For example, the most famous artist here, Guus Hoekman (misnamed as "Hoeckman" on the Classics Club* London cover) was a Dutch bass who was active from 1952 through 1984; soprano Adrienne Cole appeared in the August 1956 edition of BBC Proms; tenor Leo Larsen sang on a couple of other LP releases of Bach and Verdi, and alto Watty Krap only appears on this release.  Walter Goehr of course conducted another "mystery" Messiah release here, but with a different set of soloists.  Increasing the confusion, the alternate release of this album on the Classics Club * London label uses a couple of completely fictitious names - changing the conductor from Walter Goehr to 'William Stellar' and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra to the 'Opera Classica Society of New York!'  It's maddening.  Regardless of the obfuscation and flummery, this is a competent, typical release for the era; everything is played at a stern, deliberate tempo, the singers are all proficient and heavily operatic, reveling in wide vibratos and declamatory stances; and the orchestra and chorus are similarly thick and earnest.  Lacking any definitive proof of when, where or who the actual artists involved were, I feel no qualms about committing it to the middle of the heap in both desirability and worth.


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