SITE RATING: 7/10
SITE
REVIEW: I wasn't
familiar with conductor Jordi Savall and the
Alia Vox label until I heard about this
release. Being a European label, I was
pleasantly surprised with some research to
discover depth and breadth of their
repertoire, and of Dr. Savall's immense
history of performing Baroque music - and now
this - his first recorded Messiah!
I was filled with anticipation of what I
imagined would be a touchstone of modern Messiahs.
And while the recording and presentation are
first rate, and the performance checks many of
the boxes of what a masterful Messiah should
be, there is again that almost indefinable
sense that this is yet another recording where
the style of the performance took precedence
over the more spiritual aspects of the
text. It's certainly a handsome
presentation; recorded live in 2017, the
Concert Des Nations and Capella Reial de
Catalunya sound clean and their performance is
filled with moments of great dynamic control -
with enviable unity in playing and
singing. The singing by the Capella
Reial de Catalunya is rich and vibrant -
somewhat buried in the mix, but with a lovely
rich blend. Savall's tempos are moderate
throughout, edging into slowness when more
electrifying tempi would have been welcomed,
eschewing clean lightness for a more
controlled, luxuriant sound. The
soloists are uniformly technically terrific,
but. with one exception, bring little to the
performance other than clinical expertise - I
never got the sense that deeper feeling
entered into their singing. Tenor
Nicholas Mulroy sounds firm and declamatory
rather than joyful; counter-tenor Damien
Guillon's vocal quality didn't thrill me - his
'hooty' tone was distracting, especially on
some his melismas, which were muddy - and I
felt a second soprano or alto would have
suited better. Baritone Matthias
Winckhler surprised me with his deep, chesty
tone, which sounded more bass-like than I
expected. He has moments
of great beauty, however. Soprano
Rachel Redmond has a lovely rich tone, with a
natural vibrato which never leans into heavier
operatic intensity, and she alone seems to
bring a sense of joy and lightness to the
proceedings. Overall, a disappointment -
I felt that there were no 'fireworks' in the
performance, but was merely a professionally
performed, but otherwise rather staid, remote
Messiah. The thick, full-color
booklet which accompanies the set is
unfortunately pasted directly into the
cardboard trifold CD case, making it awkward
to peruse, but is otherwise quite handsome.
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