RECORDINGS

LABEL: HUGO CLASSICAL
CATALOG NUMBER: HRP 7193-2
UPC NUMBER: 4892440719323
NUMBER OF DISCS: 1
RUNNING TIME: 71:53
DATE RECORDED: 1998
RELEASE DATE: 1998
CONDUCTOR: CHEN TSCHENG-HSIUNG
ORCHESTRA: HONG KONG SINFONIETTA
CHOIR: HONG KONG ORATORIO SOCIETY
SOPRANO: CLARA YIP
ALTO: CYNTHIA LUFF
TENOR: TAM YU-LEUNG
BASS: PETRUS CHEUNG


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DISC ONE

Part One
No. 1 Overture
No. 2 Comfort ye, my people (Recitative - Tenor)
No. 3 Ev'ry valley shall be exalted (Air - Tenor)
No. 4 And the glory of the Lord (Chorus)
No, 5 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts (Recitative - Bass)
No. 6 But who may abide the day of His coming (Air - Alto)
No. 7 And He shall purify the sons of Levi (Chorus)
No. 8 Behold, a virgin shall conceive (Recitative - Alto)
No. 9 O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Air - Alto)
         O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Chorus)
No. 10 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (Recitative - Bass)
No. 11 The people that walked in darkness (Air - Bass)
No, 12 For unto us a Child is born (Chorus)
No. 13 Pastoral Symphony
No. 14 There were shepherds abiding in the field (Recitative - Soprano)
No. 17 Glory to God in the highest (Chorus)
No. 18 Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion (Air - Soprano)
No. 19 Then shall the eyes of the blind be open'd (Recitative  -Alto)
No. 20 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Air - Alto & Soprano)
No. 21 His yoke is easy, His burthen is light (Chorus)

Part Two
No. 44 Hallelujah (Chorus)

Part Three
No. 47 Behold, I tell you a mystery (Recitative - Bass)
No. 48 The trumpet shall sound (Air - Bass)
No. 53 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain (Chorus)
Amen (Chorus)
SITE RATING:  4/10
SITE REVIEW:  I was expecting another Chinese-language recording on this 1998 effort by the Hong Kong Oratorio Society and Hong Kong Sinfonietta, but was surprised to discover an English-language performance instead.  Under the baton of Conductor CHEN Tscheng-hsiung, the playing and direction are crisp and precise, and I was impressed by the clean delineation shown in the Overture.  Tenor TAM Yu-leung sings with a pure, light tone, and an odd trembling tessitura which took me a couple of times listening to to appreciate.  Coupled with his nationally-accented delivery, I would consider his performance an acquired taste.  The Hong Kong  Oratorio Society is unfortunately soft in its performance, with pitch problems evident in the sopranos and tenors, the former going flat, and the latter tending sharp; and while the Sinfonietta seems to benefit from Tscheng-hsiung's direction, the choir is blander is their delivery.  Bass Petrus CHEUNG is fine, although underwhelming in his tone, and a bit swallowed in his upper register; alto Cynthia Luff is the weak link among the soloists, giving a wilted performance that brings neither life nor fire to her arias, and especially distracting on her melismas, which she chops into small bites "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!".  Soprano Clara YIP gives a too-bright reading of ""Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion" not helped by the sprightly tempo chosen by the Conductor, leading to a sharp, somewhat manic performance.  The recording gives prominence to the Sinfonietta over the Choir, with the harpsichord drowning out certain moments of "And He shall purify" and is omnipresent throughout.  So, despite an admirable showing by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, this recording pales in most other aspects.
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