| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL |
WETON-WESGRAM
B.V. |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
CC217
|
| UPC
NUMBER: |
8717423055587
|
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
2 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
UNKNOWN
|
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
1994? |
| CD
RELEASE
DATE: |
2007 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
ALIPI
NAIDENOV |
| ORCHESTRA: |
SOFIA
PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
BULGARIAN
CHAPEL
CHOIR |
| SOPRANO: |
CARMINA
TCHAIO |
| MEZZO-SOPRANO: |
HRISTINA
ANGELACOVA |
| TENOR: |
N/A |
| BASS: |
PLAMEN
HIDJOV |
|
|
| AUDIO SAMPLES |
HIGHLIGHTS |
OTHER
RELEASES |
NONE
|
    |
  |
|
DISC ONE
1. Sinfonia
2. Comfort Ye, My People-Accompagnato
(Tenore)
3. Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted-Aria
(Tenore)
4. And The Glory Of The Lord-Coro
5. Thus Saith The Lord-Accompagnato
(Basso)
6. But Who May Abide-Aria (Alto)
7. And He Shall Purify-Coro
8. Behold, A Virgin Shall
Conceive-Recitativo (Mezzo Soprano)
9. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To
Zion-Aria (Mezzo Soprano)
10. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To
Zion-Coro
11. For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover The
Earth-Accompagnato (Basso)
12. The People That Walked In
Darkness-Aria (Basso)
13. For Unto Us A Child Is Born-Coro
14. Pifa-Sinfonia Pastorale
15. There Were Shepherds-Recitativo
(Soprano)
16. And Lo, The Angel Of The
Lord-Accompagnato (Soprano)
17. And The Angel Said Unto
Them-Recitativo (Soprano)
18. And Suddenly There Was With The
Angel-Accompagnato (Soprano)
19. Glory To God-Coro
20. Then Shall The Eyes Of The
Blind-Recitativo (Mezzo Soprano)
21. He Shall Feed His Flock-Duetto (Mezzo
Soprano/Soprano)
22. His Yoke Is Easy-Coro
|
DISC TWO
1. How Beautiful Are The Feet-Aria
(Soprano)
2. Why Do The Nations ?-Aria (Basso)
3. Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder-Coro
4. He That Dwelleth In Heaven-Recitativo
(Tenore)
5. Thou Shalt Break Them-Aria (Tenore)
6. Hallelujah-Coro
7. I Know That My Redeemer Liveth-Aria
(Soprano)
8. Behold, I Tell You A
Mystery-Accompagnato (Basso)
9. The Trumpet Shall Sound-Aria (Basso)
10. Then Shall Be Brought To
Pass-Recitativo (Mezzo Soprano)
11. O Death, Where Is Thy Sting ?-Duetto
(Mezzo Soprano/Tenore)
12. But Thanks Be To God-Coro
13. If God Be For Us-Aria (Soprano)
14. Worthy Is The Lamb.... Amen-Coro |
|
SITE RATING: 1/10
SITE
REVIEW: Easily one of
the most ineptly performed Messiahs
I've ever heard, this 1995 European-produced
album, featuring The Bulgarian Chapel Choir,
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and soloists, all
conducted by Alipi Naidinov is pretty horrific
from a performance standpoint.
Naidenov's conduction is blunt and
without expression; everything is hammered
with long, clumsy strokes exacerbated by the
lumbering tempos and full-out singing of the
choir. One listen to the ham-fisted
"Hallelujah" will convince most of the dire
nature of this recording, but there are other
problems - it sounds as if the orchestra is
playing from a pirated score, with occasional
lapses in familiar lines, and with so much of
the oratorio cut (this Netherland release is
the fullest account I've found - most of the
available releases are in even shorter
highlights editions), that it reminded me of
the similarly butchered Ormandy disc.
The three named soloists (for some
reason, the tenor soloist is completely
anonymous) are hampered by wide vibratos which
often send them careening off the pitch
center, often the impression of being
physically manhandled during their
performances, and suffer as well
from severe regional accents which blur the
English libretto to an absurd degree.
This is a live recording as well, and
loud coughing is often heard during the
quieter moments, as well as chairs shifting
and other odd, distracting noises present
throughout. I'm quite frankly astonished
that someone felt that this performance
merited any kind of recorded transcript, and
even more appalled that budget companies like
Platinum Records choose this performance to
release on their label. It's a terrible
Messiah
from beginning to end, and can be easily
shunned by all listeners.
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