SITE RATING: 2/10
SITE REVIEW:
As much as I despise low-end record companies which put
out cheap, nameless product and fill America's shopping malls with
sub-standard, copycat music, it seems clear that the practice has been
around as long as recording technology. This 1954 "highlights" LP of
Handel's Messiah, put out by
the long-dead Gramophone label, is just as guilty as any modern
incarnation of this practice, and it appears that much the same tactics
that mark modern-day companies (like K-Tel and Turn Up The Music): the
choir, soloist, organist, and conductor are all unnamed, and its
probably all for the best - the choir is certainly enthusiastic, with
the tenors taking home the tin medal for powering up to the high notes
with full gusto, but little care taken for blend or unity - they sound
like a competent volunteer church or community choir. The
omnipresent alto, who is given the lion's share of solo moments, is
very ripe indeed - not terrible - but very much of the times, with wide
vibrato and a heavy, chesty tone. The mezzo-soprano is of a similar
stripe, with a flutey, chest tone, and a penchant for rolling her "R's"
with apparent relish; she slides from note to note on "I know that my
Redeemer liveth" and her suspect pitch made me grit my teeth.
Tempi are very slow, dirge-like, giving cheerful numbers like
"Glory to God" and "For The Glory of the Lord" a melancholy cast, and
imparting an appropriately dire funeral cast to "Behold the Lamb of
God". The bass soloist is very poor, with a paper-thin tessitura
and anemic melismas, and the tenor is bright and strident, muscling his
way through "Thou shalt break them". This LP can be found in
various flea markets and dusty record stores, but there's no reason to
seek it out. This album has also been released by the defunct
Halo label with the choir listed as the "Gramaphone" Choir.
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