663993
RECORDINGS

LABEL: CLASSICO
CATALOG NUMBER: CLASSCD747
UPC NUMBER: 663993502762
NUMBER OF DISCS: 2
RUNNING TIME: 2:23:57
YEAR RECORDED: 2010?
CD RELEASE DATE: 2010
CONDUCTOR: NENIA ZENANA
ORCHESTRA: AKADEMISK ORKESTER
CHOIR: AKADEMISK KOR
SOPRANO: MARIANNE G. NIELSEN
ALTO: ULLA KUDSK JENSEN
TENOR: KRISTIAN SØRENSEN
BASS: JOHN LUNDGREN


AUDIO SAMPLES HIGHLIGHTS OTHER RELEASES

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DISC ONE

1. Sinfonia 05:52
2. Recitative: Comfort ye my people (Tenor) 02:54
3. Aria: Every valley shall be exalted (Tenor) 03:16
4. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed (Chorus) 02:39
5. Recitative: Thus saith the Lord (Bass) 01:35
6. Aria: But who may abide the day of His coming (Alto) 04:34
7. And He shall purify the sons of Levi (Chorus) 02:21
8. Recitative: Behold, a virgin shall conceive (Alto) 00:27
9. Aria: O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Alto) 03:42
10. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Chorus) 01:36
11. Recitative: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (Bass) 02:21
12. Aria: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light (Bass) 03:12
13. For unto a child is born (Chorus) 03:50
14. Pifa 03:13
15. Recitative: There were shepherds abiding in the field (Soprano) 01:20
16. Glory to God in the highest (Chorus) 01:56
17. Aria: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (Soprano)            00:04:17
18. Recitative: Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (Alto) 00:31
19. Aria: He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Alto, Soprano) 05:38
20. His yoke is easy, His burthen is light (Chorus) 02:11
21. Behold the Lamb of God (Chorus) 03:40
22. Aria: He was despised and rejected of men (Alto) 10:10
23. Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Chorus) 02:00
24. And with His stripes we are healed (Chorus) 01:58
25. All we like sheep have gone astray (Chorus) 03:37
DISC TWO

1. Recitative: All they that see Him Laugh Him to scorn (Tenor) 00:44
2. He trusted in God that He would deliver Him (Chorus) 02:21
3. Recitative: Thy rebuke hath broken His heart (Tenor) 01:58
4. Arioso: Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow! (Tenor) 01:35
5. Recitative: He was cut off out of the land of the living (Tenor) 00:20
6. Aria: But thou didst not leave His soul in Hell (Tenor) 03:07
7. Lift up your heads (Chorus) 02:49
8. Recitative: Unto which of the angels said He at any time (Tenor) 00:17
9. Let all the angels of God worship Him (Chorus) 01:22
10. Aria: Thou art gone up high (Alto) 03:07
11. The Lord gave the word (Chorus) 01:03
12. Duet: How beautiful are the feet of Him that bringeth glad tidings of salvation (Soprano, Alto) 02:20
13. Their sound is gone out into all lands (Chorus) 01:34
14. Aria: Why do the nations so furiosly rage together (Bass) 02:48
15. Let us break their bonds asunder (Chorus) 01:33
16. Recitative: He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn (Tenor) 00:14
17. Aria: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron (Tenor) 01:54
18. Hallelujah! (Chorus) 03:38
19. Aria: I know that my Redeemer liveth (Soprano) 05:16
20. Since by man came death (Chorus) 02:03
21. Recitative: Behold, I tell you a mystery (Bass) 00:40
22. Aria: The trumpet shall sound (Bass) 08:18
23. Recitative: Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written (Alto) 00:20
24. Duet: O Death, where is thy sting (Alto, Tenor) 01:07
25. But thanks be to God (Chorus) 02:13
26. Aria: If God be for us, who can be against us? (Soprano) 04:36
27. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain (Chorus) 03:52
28. Amen (Chorus) 03:58

SITE RATING:  4/10
SITE REVIEW:  A 2010 entry by Danish conductor Nenia Zenana, along with the Academic Choir and Orchestra, this performance beings with one of the slowest, most soporific "Sinfonia's" I've heard in a long, long time.  Giving such 1950s luminaries as Sir Malcom Sargent and Hermann Scherchen a run for their money for lackadaisacal tempos, Zenana's "Sinfonia" manages to slow things down to the speed of cold molasses, yet doesn't infuse the music with the same richness, or grandeur which the former directors brought to the table.  This tendency creates a bit of a problem for all the performers, who struggle with the long, languid lines, and only perk up when the director decides to occasionally speed things up.  Tenor Kristian Sorenson has a light. pleasant tessitura, but is meek in his upper register and half-hearted in his attempts at ornamentation.  Alto Ulla Jensen sounds watery and chesty, with a wide vibrato.  Bass John Lundgren is simply not up to the part, with a throaty placement and uncertain melismas dooming his arias.  Soprano Marianne G. Nielsen possesses a pleasant upper register, clear and neat, but struggles in her lower reaches, and had a tendency to spread her vowels.  As far as the Academic Choir and Orchestra, they are competent, no more, with Zenana giving them no particular direction with which to distinguish themselves.  They sing and play the parts, but there's no passion, or electricity.  It both performance and sound, it reminded me strongly of Jane Glover's 2010 Messiah, which was similarly undistinguished and forgettable.


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