RECORDINGS

LABEL: SOUNDWAVES
CATALOG NUMBER: 60CP97
UPC NUMBER: N/A
NUMBER OF DISCS: 1
RUNNING TIME: 1:13:39
DATE RECORDED: DECEMBER 14, 1997
RELEASE DATE: 1998
CONDUCTOR: BARBARA SPECHT
ORCHESTRA: HEIDELBERG COLLEGE-COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA
CHOIR: HEIDELBERG COLLEGE CONCERT CHOIR, COLLEGE-COMMUNITY CHORUS
SOPRANO: SOO YEON KIM
ALTO: LISA D. BRUNS
TENOR: GREGORY B. RIKE
BASS: MARK W. MCNALLY

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DISC ONE

1. Overture
2. Comfort Ye, comforte ye my people, saith your God
3. Every Valley Shall Be Exalted
4. And The Glory Of The Lord
5. Thus Saith The Lord of hosts
6. But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?
7. And He Shall Purify the Sons of Levi
8. Behold A Virgin Shall Conceive
9. For Unto Us A Child Is Born
10. There Were Shepherds Abiding in the Field
And, Lo The Angel of the Lord came upon them
And The Angel Said unto them
And Suddenly There was with the angel
11. Glory To God
12. Rejoice Greatly O daughter of Zion
13. Then Shall The Eyes of the blind be open'd


14. He Shall Feed His Flock Like a shepherd
15. Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs
16. He Trusted In God That He Would Deliver Him
17. Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart
18. Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage?
19. He That Dwelleth In Heaven shall laugh them to scorn
Thou Shalt Break Them with a rod of iron
20. Hallelujah!
21. Since By Man Came Death
22. Behold, I Tell You A Mystery
23. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
and hath redeemed us to God
Blessing and Honour

SITE RATING:  2/10
SITE REVIEW:  Heidelberg College (now University) of Tiffin, Ohio, published this private-label Messiah highlights CD in 1998, taken from their December 1997 concert.  I wish I could say that the concert is a credit to their music department of the time, but the College-Community Orchestra's playing is riddled with out-of-tune instruments, leaden playing, and workman-like performances.  Similarly, the choir, which is unaccountably (and heavily) padded with "College Alumni, Area High Schools, and Community Singers" (i.e., basically anyone they could suck in off the street) is similarly hampered by disunified, inexperienced singing.  Conductor Barbara Specht certainly had her work cut out for her with such disparate forces, and sadly, the direction is similarly uninspired, but, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and I'll hope that she enjoyed more proficient artists under her baton than she had access to on this occasion.  The soloists are never more than adequate; tenor Gregory B. Rike has a thin, stretched tessitura with an airy texture, but pleasant overall tone.  Bass Mark W. McNalley is similarly thin in his lower register, and makes me long for a more passionate, involved reading.  Alto Lisa D. Bruns is hamstrung by the orchestra's horrific playing on "O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion" but is similarly handicapped by her own pale reading, and soprano Soo Yeon Kim is constantly sharp, and her too-bright and fluttery vibrato dooms her moments.  Why anyone would think this performance merited a recorded memento is beyond me; the singing, playing and overall performance is one that I think most hearers would want to forget.

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