| RECORDINGS |
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| LABEL: |
PHILIPSTOWN
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| CATALOG
NUMBER: |
UNKNOWN
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| UPC
NUMBER: |
UNKNOWN
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| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
1
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| RUNNING TIME: |
1:18:07
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| YEAR
RECORDED: |
2013
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| CD
RELEASE DATE: |
JULY
24, 2014
|
| CONDUCTOR: |
GORDON
STEWART
|
| ORCHESTRA: |
PHILIPSTOWN
PHILHARMONIA
|
| CHOIR: |
PHILIPSTOWN
PHILHARMONIA CHORUS
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| SOPRANO: |
GABREILA
MIKOVA JOHNSON
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| ALTO: |
NICHOLAS
TAMANGNA
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| TENOR: |
STEVEN
BRENNFLECK
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| BASS: |
DASHON
BURTON
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DISC ONE
1. Symphony
Philipstown Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 3:04
2. Accompagniato Comfort Ye My People
(Tenor) Philipstown
Philharmonia, Gordon Stewart & Steven
Brennfleck 3:26
3. Air Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
(Tenor) Philipstown
Philharmonia, Steven Brennfleck &
Gordon Stewart 3:12
4. Chorus and the Glory of the
Lord Philipstown
Philharmonia, Steven Brennfleck &
Gordon Stewart 2:54
5. Accompagniato Thus Saith the Lord, The
Lord of Hosts (Bass)
Philipstown Philharmonia, Dashon Burton
& Gordon Stewart
1:29
6. Air but Who May Abide the Day of His
Coming (Bass)
Philipstown Philharmonia, Dashon Burton
& Gordon Stewart
4:06
7. Chorus and He Shall
Purify Philipstown
Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 2:23
8. Recitative Behold, A Virgin Shall
Conceive (Alto), Air and Chorus O Thou
That Tellest [Alto]
Philipstown Philharmonia, Nicholas
Tamangna & Gordon
Stewart 5:10
9. Accompagniato for Behold, Darkness
Shall Cover the Earth
(Bass) Philipstown
Philharmonia, Dashon Burton & Gordon
Stewart
2:35
10. Chorus for Unto Us
Philipstown Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 3:50
11. 11. Pastorale, Recitative There Were
Shepherds Abiding in the Fields (Soprano),
Accompagniato and Lo, The Angel of the
Lord, Recitative and the Angel Said Unto
Them (Soprano)
Philipstown Philharmonia, Gabriela Mikova
Johnson & Gordon
Stewart 3:58
12. Accompagniato and Suddenly There Was
With the Angel (Soprano), Chorus Glory to
God in the Highest
Philipstown Philharmonia, Gabriela Mikova
Johnson & Gordon
Stewart 2:16
13. Air Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of
Sion (Soprano)
Philipstown Philharmonia, Gabriela Mikova
Johnson & Gordon
Stewart
4:34
14. TRecitative Then Shall the Eyes of the
Blind Be Opened (Alto), Duet He Shall Feed
His Flock Like a Shepherd [Alto,
Soprano] Philipstown
Philharmonia, Gordon Stewart &
Gabriela Mikova Johnson
5:50
15. Chorus His Yoke Is
Easy Philipstown
Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 2:08
16. Air He Was Despised
(Alto) Philipstown
Philharmonia, Gordon Stewart &
Nicholas Tamangna 9:54
17. Chorus Surely, He Hath Borne Our
Griefs and Carried Our
Sorrows Philipstown
Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 1:44
18. Chorus and With His Stripes We Are
Healed Philipstown
Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 3:02
19. Chorus Their Sound Has Gone Out Into
All Lands Philipstown
Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 1:26
20. Air Why Do the Nations so Furiously
Rage Together (Bass)
Philipstown Philharmonia, Gordon Stewart
& Dashon Burton 2:47
21. Chorus Let Us Break Their Bonds
Asunder Philipstown
Philharmonia, Gordon Stewart & Dashon
Burton 1:43
22. Recitative He That Dwelleth in Heaven
(Tenor), Air Thou Shall Break Them With a
Rod of Iron (Tenor)
Philipstown Philharmonia, Gordon Stewart
& Steven Brennfleck
2:09
23. Chorus Hallelujah
Philipstown Philharmonia & Gordon
Stewart 4:27
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SITE RATING: 6/10
SITE
REVIEW: A Philipstown Messiah is
an abridged single-disc live performance
given by the Philipstown Philharmonia &
Chorus, briskly conducted by Gordon Stewart,
and independently released by the
Philipstown organization. As a local
release originating from an admittedly small
and cloistered community of 10,000, I wasn't
expecting much. And while this
highlights disc certainly won't jump to the
top of anyone's top Messiah's, it's a
vigorously-performed, polished performance
that would make any community proud,
hampered only by the obvious drawbacks of a
captured live performance, with every blot
and blemish on display.
The Philipstown Philharmonia and chorus are
energetic, precise, and highly practiced,
with only disunity in sound and the
occasional outright missed note bringing the
collective performance down. Also,
conductor Gordon Stewart (former
speech-writer for President Jimmy Carter and
astringent liberal activist) has an odd
tendency to bring momentum to a screeching
halt with determined rubatos at the end of
certain movements, as if to state:
This. Is. The. End.
Amongst the soloists, bass Dashon Burton is
powerful, but a bit chesty in his tone;
tenor Steven Brennfleck possesses a tone
brittle and lacking warmth, but full of
showy technique. Contralto Nicholas
Tamangna is conversely warm and genial,
boasting a cheerful tessitura, and soprano
Gabriela Mikova Johnson boasts a fluttery,
glass-like tone with chilly expertise.
Overall, I was more impressed with the rigid
technique on display than by any semblance
of heart-felt devotion (Nicholas Tamangna's
tender performance excepted).
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