| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL: |
DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
471
232-2 |
| UPC
NUMBER: |
028947123224 |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
3 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
191:51 |
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
1959 |
| CD
RELEASE DATE: |
MAY
14, 2002 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
HERMANN
SCHERCHEN |
| ORCHESTRA: |
VIENNA
STATE OPERA ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
VIENNA
ACADEMY CHAMBER CHOIR |
| SOPRANO: |
PIERRETTE
ALARIE |
| CONTRALTO: |
NAN
MERRIMAN |
| TENOR: |
LÉOPOLD
SIMONEAU |
| BASS: |
RICHARD
STANDEN |
|
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DISC ONE
1. Symphony
2. Accompagnato: Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye
My ...
3. Air: Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
4. Chorus: And the Glory of the Lord
Shall ...
5. Accompagnato: Thus Saith the Lord of
Hosts
6. Air: But Who May Abide the Day of His
..
7. Chorus: And He Shall Purify
8. Recitative: Behold, A Virgin Shall
Conceive
9. Air & Chorus: O Thou That Tellest
Good ...
10. Accompagnato: For Behold, Darkness
...
11. Air: The People That Walked in
Darkness
12. Chorus: For Unto Us a Child Is Born
13. Pifa (Pastoral
Symphony/Hirtenmusik/Pas ...
14. Recitative: There Were Shepherds
Abiding in
15. Chorus: Glory to God in the Highest
16. Air: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of
Zion
17. Recitative: Then Shall the Eyes of
the ...
18. Air: He Shall Feed His Flock
19. Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy, His
Burthen ...
|
DISC TWO
1. Chorus: Behold the Lamb of
God
2. Air: He Was Despised
3. Chorus: Surely, He Hath Borne Our
Griefs
4. Chorus: And with His Stripes We Are
Healed
5. Chorus: All We Like Sheep Have Gone
Astray
6. Accompagnato: All They That See Him
7. Chorus: He Trusted in God
8. Accompagnato: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken
...
9. Arioso: Behold, And See If There Be
Any ...
10. Accompagnato: He Was Cut Off Out of
the ...
11. Air: But Thou Didst Not Leave His
Soul
12. Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye
Gates
13. Recitative: Unto Which of the Angels
14. Chorus: Let All the Angels of God
...
15. Air: Thou Art Gone Up on High
16. Chorus: The Lord Gave the Word
17. Air: How Beautiful Are the Feet
18. Chorus: Their Sound Is Gone Out
|
DISC
THREE
1.
Air: Why Do the Nations So Furiously
Rage
2. Chorus: Let Us Break Their Bonds
Asunder
3. Recitative: He That Dwelleth in
Heaven
4. Air: Thou Shalt Break Them
5. Chorus: Hallelujah
6. Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
7. Chorus: Since by Man Came Death
8. Accompagnato: Behold, I Tell You a
Mystery
9. Air: The Trumpet Shall Sound
10. Recitative: Then Shall Be Brought to
Pass
11. Duet: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
12. Chorus: But Thanks Be to God
13. Air: If God Be for Us
14. Chorus: Worthy Is the Lamb That Was
Slain - Amen |
|
SITE RATING: 8/10
SITE
REVIEW: Hermann Scherchen's
second Messiah
recording of the 1950s is, if anything, even
more expansive than his epic 1954 cycle, and
has many things to recommend it. For one
thing, it's in stereo, giving clarity and
separation which the 1954 recording lacked,
but the sound, for being from the late 1950s,
is very very good - again, it puts the Ormandy and Bernstein discs to
shame. Tenor Léopold Simoneau is
marvellous, with a clear, powerful tessatura,
bass Richard Standen carries a deep, powerful
authority in his arias, alto Nan Merriman is
unlistenable with a omni-present vibrato
nearly shaking my speakers into pieces, and I
found soprano Pierrette Alarie lovely, if a
bit too studied in her ornamentations.
The balance of the Vienna Academy
Chamber Choir and Vienna State Opera Orchestra
is very fine, with warm, naturalistic
performances from all involved. Many
will find Scherchen's tempos too heavy, and on
some movements, such as the contrapuntal "His
Yoke Is Easy" is sounds too slow and lumbering
- I much prefer quicker, lighter readings;
still for its era, this is one of the finest
of the "old school" Messiahs, and the
remastering and notation of the DG set is
worthy of discovery for those wanting a grand,
expansive Messiah
in their collection. ~ BDW
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