| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL: |
HARMONIA
MUNDI |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
907050.52 |
| UPC
NUMBER: |
093046705022 |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
3 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
74:30,
71:05, 44:37 |
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
1991 |
| CD
RELEASE DATE: |
DECEMBER
7, 1992 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
NICHOLAS
MCGEGAN |
| ORCHESTRA: |
PHILHARMONIA
BAROQUE ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
U.C.
BERKELEY CHAMBER CHORUS |
| SOPRANO: |
LORRAINE
HUNT, JANET WILLIAMS |
| MEZZO-SOPRANO: |
PATRICIA
SPENCE |
| COUNTERTENOR: |
DREW
MINTER |
| TENOR: |
JEFFREY
THOMAS |
| BASS: |
WILLIAM
PARKER |
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DISC ONE
1. Sinfonia - Comfort ye -
Every valley shall be exalted - And the
glory of the Lord
2. Thus saith the Lord
3. But who may abide the day of His
coming
4. And He shall purify the sons of Levi
5. Behold, a virgin shall concieve - O
thous that tellest good tidings to Zion
- O thou that t
6. For behold, darkness shall cover the
earth - The people that walked in
darkness
7. For unto us a child is born - Pifa
(Pastoral Symphony) - There were
shepherds abiding in th
8. And lo, the angel of the Lord came
upon them
9. And the angel said unto them - And
suddenly there was with the angel -
Glory to God
10. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
11. Then shall the eyes of the blind be
opened
12. He shall feed His flock
13. His yoke is easy
14. Thus saith the Lord
15. But who may abide the day of His
coming (bass)
16. But who may abide the day of His
coming (soprano)
17. But who may abide the day of His
coming [Recitative] (bass)
18. But lo! the angel of the Lord came
upon them
19. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
20. He shall feed His flock
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DISC TWO
1. Behold the lamb of God
2. He was despised and rejected of men
3. Surely He hath borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; And with His
stripes we are healee
4. Lift up your heads - Unto which of
the angels said He at any time - Let all
the angels of God
5. Thou art gone up on high
6. The Lord gave the word
7. How beautiful are the feet
8. Their sound is gone out into all
lands
9. Why do the nations so furiously rage
together
10. Let us break their bonds asunder
11. He that dwelleth in heaven - Thou
shalt break them with a rod of iron
12. Hallelujah!
13. Thou art gone up on high (bass)
14. Thou art gone up on high (alto)
15. How beautiful are the feet... /
Their sound is gone out...
16. How beautiful are the feet... /
Break forth into joy
17. How beautiful are the feet...
18. Their sound is gone out...
19. He that dwelleth... / Thou shalt
break them...
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DISC
THREE
1. I know
that my Redeemer liveth
2. Since by man came death
3. Behold, I tell you a
mystery
4. The trumpet shall sound
5. Then shall be brought to
pass
6. O Death, where is thy
sting?
7. But thanks be to God
8. If God be for us
9. Worthy is the Lamb
10. Amen
11. Addendum to Part III: O
Death, where is thy sting?
12. Addendum to Part II: He
was despised... |
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SITE RATING: 5/10
SITE
REVIEW: Nicholas
McGegan set himself an interesting challenge
for the creation of this one-of-a-kind
recording: namely, to gather together all of
the documented variations which Handel
introduced into Messiah, and record them in
such a way that you could program your CD
player to create different versions of Messiah,
based on the year and circumstances in which
it was performed. But while an admirable
goal, it's presentation and execution both
have flaws, which I suspect will be a
stumbling block to many listeners. The
first problem is with the programming: whereas
Thomas Beecham's early
attempt at an addendum of this kind was
to present the material at the end of the
performance, McGegan and the producers decided
to incorporate the differences into the
running track list, so, you will have multiple
versions of the same song following each
other, or an alternate version popping up a
few tracks later, if Handel happened to change
the song order at some point. So, unless
the listener is willing to program their CD every time, you're going
to hear the same song again and again in
various degrees of differentiation. The
other problem is one of performance - the
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and U.C.
Berkeley Chamber Chorus perform admirably, if
not with any special dispensation, but
McGeegan apparently is from the school of
thought that soloists ought to be given very
free reign on the ornamentation they are
allowed within their arias, and the result is
a mess of over-performing, and needless
distraction as they flutter and trill to
excess. None of the soloists impressed
me, with countertenor Drew Minter especially
grating with his indulgent forays and curious,
quick vibrato. While I am of the opinion
that a project that gathers the different
versions of Messiah
together is worthwhile, this set is a huge
disappointment.
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