| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL: |
ALPHA
CLASSICS
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| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
UNKNOWN
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| EAN
NUMBER: |
UNKNOWN
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| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
2
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
116:22
|
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
2016
|
| CD
RELEASE DATE: |
OCTOBER
2017
|
| CONDUCTOR: |
HERVÉ NIQUET
|
| ORCHESTRA: |
LE
CONCERT SPIRITUEL
|
| CHOIR: |
LE
CONCERT SPIRITUEL
|
| SOPRANO: |
SANDRINE
PIAU
|
| SOPRANO: |
KATHERINE WATSON
|
| MEZZO-SOPRANO: |
ANTHEA
PICHANIK
|
| TENOR: |
RUPERT
CHARLESWORTH
|
| BARITONE: |
ANDREAS
WOLF
|
|
|
| AUDIO SAMPLES |
HIGHLIGHTS |
OTHER
RELEASES |
|
NONE
|
NONE
|
|
DISC ONE
1. Pt. 1: No. 1,
Sinfonia
by Concert Spirituel Orchestra
2. Pt. 1: No. 2, Comfort Ye My People
by Rupert Charlesworth
3. Pt. 1: No. 3, Every Valley Shall Be
Exalted
by Rupert Charlesworth
4. Pt. 1: No. 4, And the Glory of the
Lord
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
5. Pt. 1: No. 5, Thus Saith the Lord of
Hosts
by Andreas Wolf
6. Pt. 1: No. 6, But Who May Abide
by Sandrine Piau
7. Pt. 1: No. 7, And He Shall Purify -
No. 8, Behold, a Virgin Shall Conceive
by Anthea Pichanick
8. Pt. 1: No. 9, O Thou That Tellest
by Anthea Pichanick
9. Pt. 1: No. 10, For Behold
by Andreas Wolf
10. Pt. 1: No. 11, The People That
Walked
by Andreas Wolf
11. Pt. 1: No. 12, For unto Us a Child
Is Born
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
12. Pt. 1: No. 13, Pifa - No. 14a, There
Were Shepherds
by Katherine Watson
13. Pt. 1: No. 14b, And Lo, the Angel of
the Lord - No. 15, And the Angel Said
unto Them
by Katherine Watson
14. Pt. 1: No. 16, And Suddenly
by Katherine Watson
15. Pt. 1: No. 17, Glory to God in the
Highest
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
16. Pt. 1: No. 18, Rejoice Greatly - No.
19, Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind
by Katherine Watson
17. Pt. 1: No. 20, He Shall Feed His
Flock
by Sandrine Piau
18. Pt. 1: No. 21, His Yoke Is Easy
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
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DISC TWO
1. Pt. 2: No. 22, Behold the
Lamb of God
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
2. Pt. 2: No. 23, He Was Despised
by Anthea Pichanick
3. Pt. 2: No. 24, Surely He Hath Borne
Our Griefs
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
4. Pt. 2: No. 25, And with His Stripes
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
5. Pt. 2: No. 26, All We like Sheep
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
6. Pt. 2: No. 27, All They That See Him
by Rupert Charlesworth
7. Pt. 2: No. 28, He Trusted in God
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
8. Pt. 2: No. 29, Thy Rebuke Hath Broken
His Heart
by Rupert Charlesworth
9. Pt. 2: No. 30, Behold, and See
by Rupert Charlesworth
10. Pt. 2: No. 31, He Was Cut Off
by Katherine Watson
11. Pt. 2: No. 32, But Thou Didst Not
Leave His Soul in Hell
by Katherine Watson
12. Pt. 2: No. 33, Lift Up Your Heads -
No. 34, Unto Which of the Angels
by Rupert Charlesworth
13. Pt. 2: No. 35, Let All the Angels of
God
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
14. Pt. 2: No. 36, Thou Art Gone Up on
High
by Katherine Watson
15. Pt. 2: No. 37, The Lord Gave the
Word
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
16. Pt. 2: No. 38, How Beautiful Are the
Feet
by Sandrine Piau
17. Pt. 2: No. 39, Their Sound Is Gone
Out
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
18. Pt. 2: No. 40, Why Do the Nations
by Andreas Wolf
19. Pt. 2: No. 41, Let Us Break Their
Bonds Asunder - No. 42, He That Dwelleth
in Heaven
by Rupert Charlesworth
20. Pt. 2: No. 43, Thou Shalt Break Them
by Rupert Charlesworth
21. Pt. 2: No. 44, Hallelujah
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
22. Pt. 3: No. 45, I Know That My
Redeemer Liveth
by Sandrine Piau
23. Pt. 3: No. 46, Since by Man Came
Death
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
24. Pt. 3: No. 47, Behold, I Tell You a
Mystery
by Andreas Wolf
25. Pt. 3: No. 48, The Trumpet Shall
Sound - No. 49, Then Shall Be Brought to
Pass
by Anthea Pichanick
26. Pt. 3: No. 50, O Death
by Anthea Pichanick
27. Pt. 3: No. 51, But Thanks Be to God
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
28. Pt. 3: No. 52, If God Be for Us
by Katherine Watson
29. Pt. 3: No. 53, Worthy Is the Lamb
by Concert Spirituel Chorus
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SITE RATING: 6/10
SITE
REVIEW: I made the mistake of watching
a video
interview with French director, Herve
Niquet, on the making of this album, which
unfortunately colored my opinion of the
recording even before I heard it. The
interview, in which Niquet declares his
orchestra to be "unruly" and that this
recording "sweeps away the cobwebs" of past
recordings sounds grossly uninformed and
puffed up. Additionally, the booklet
contained with the CD set is completely
centered on Niquet: it features a laughable
multi-page "interview" where the conductor
word-associates such terms as "Nuns" and
"Fanatics". It's completely absurd and
self-important, which is unfortunate because
it prejudices the listener's enjoyment of
the performance, which, although Niquet
describes it as "an assault on Big Ben" is
really just frenetic and wrong-headed.
Le Concert Spirituel is mainly well-versed
in French repertoire, but acquits themselves
very well on the Baroque styling of
Messiah. Niquet's tempos are overall
too fast - he ignores the text and simply
plows ahead as if the ghost of Christopher
Hogwood were chasing him. Of the
soloists - Soprano Sandrine Piau is glassy
and brittle in her tone; tenor Rupert
Charlesworth is techinally very good, but
emotionally distant (which can be said of
the entire recording); bass Andreas Wolf
struggles a bit with pronunciation, but has
a nice brilliancy to his tone; soprano
Katherine Watson is a bit shrill and brittle
in her bright-toned performance, and Anthea
Pichanick is wonderfully passionate in her
role, and seemingly the only one who
connects with the text. Another
misguided recording in which style takes
supremacy over substance, to the detriment
of the whole. Here's a hint for future
conductors: Messiah isn't about you.
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