| RECORDINGS |
|
| LABEL: |
RCA
RED
SEAL |
| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
62317 |
| UPC
NUMBER: |
828766231724 |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
2 |
| RUNNING TIME: |
2:29 |
| YEAR
RECORDED: |
1966 |
| CD
RELEASE
DATE: |
OCTOBER
12,
2004 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
ROBERT
SHAW |
| ORCHESTRA: |
THE
ROBERT
SHAW ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
THE
ROBERT
SHAW CHORALE |
| SOPRANO: |
JUDITH
RASKIN |
| ALTO: |
FLORENCE
KOPLEFF |
| TENOR: |
RICHARD
LEWIS |
| BASS: |
THOMAS
PAUL |
|
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|
DISC ONE
1. Sinfonia (Overture)
2. Recitative. Comfort ye my people
3. Air. Every valley shall be exalted
4. Chorus. And the glory of the Lord
5. Recitative. Thus saith the Lord
6. Air. But who may abide the day of His
coming?
7. Chorus. And He shall purify
8. Recitative. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive
9. Air and Chorus. O thou that tellest
good tidings to Zion
10. Recitative. For behold, darkness shall
cover the earth
11. Air. The people that walked in
darkness
12. Chorus. For unto us a child is born
13. Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
14. Recitative. There were shepherds
abiding in the field / No. 14b. And lo,
the angel
15. Recitative. And the angel said unto
them
16. Recitative. And suddenly there was
with the angel
17. Chorus. Glory to God
18. Air. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion
19. Recitative. Then shall the eyes of the
blind
20. Air. He shall feed his flock / Air.
Come unto Him
21. Chorus. His yoke is easy, and His
burthen is light
22. Chorus. Behold the Lamb of God
23. Air. He was despised
|
DISC TWO
1. Chorus. Surely He hath borne our
griefs
2. Chorus. And with His stripes we are
healed
3. Chorus. All we like sheep have gone
astray
4. Recitative. All they that see Him laugh
Him to scorn
5. Chorus. He trusted in God
6. Recitative. Thy rebuke hath broken His
heart
7. Air. Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow
8. Recitative. He was cut off out of the
land of the living
9. Air. But Thou didst not leave His soul
in hell
10. Chorus. Lift up your heads, O ye gates
11. Recitative. Unto which of the angels
said He at any time
12. Chorus. Let all the angels of God
worship Him
13. Air. Thou art gone up on high
14. Chorus. The Lord gave the word
15. Air. How beautiful are the feet
16. Air. Why do the nations so furiously
rage together?
17. Chorus. Let us break their bonds
asunder
18. Recitative. He that dwelleth in Heaven
19. Air. Thou shalt break them
20. Chorus. Hallelujah
21. Air. I know that my Redeemer liveth
22. Chorus. Since by man came death
23. Recitative. Behold, I tell you a
mystery
24. Air. The trumpet shall sound
25. Duet. O death, where is thy sting?
26. Chorus. But thanks be to God
27. Air. If God be for us
28. Chorus. Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain
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SITE RATING: 7/10
SITE
REVIEW: Robert Shaw's
1966 Messiah
is a favorite of many Handel fans, for, much
like Sir Colin Davis's Messiah
of the same year, this recording eschewed the
behemouth choirs and orchestras and slower
tempos which had dominated the landscape for
decades, in favor of smaller forces, lighter
touches, and swifter tempi. Directly
comparing the two, I prefer Davis's recording
over this one - Shaw's recording still seems
heavy - the soloists are much throatier and
older in voice than I like - and the tempos,
although faster than, say, Beecham, are still
weightier than Davis's. "The People That
Walked In Darkness" sounds more like a
lumbering than a stride, and the recorded
ambience is brighter on the Philips recording
than here on the RCA - the choir in particular
sounds as if they're placed rather far back
from the microphones; while the soloists and
orchestra are quite forward, clean and sharp.
That said, the choir sounds marvellous
in their intonation and unity - a Shaw
trademark - and if you have to have some Shaw
Messiah
in your collection, and don't mind about the
rather ripe soloists voices, then this is the
preferred disc over Shaw's 1984 Messiah,
which lacks the youthful vigor of this one.
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