Handel - Messiah / Röschmann, Gritton, Fink , C. Daniels, N. Davies; McCreesh Digital Life Music

Handel - Messiah / Röschmann, Gritton, Fink , C. Daniels, N. Davies; McCreesh
by: George Frideric Handel, Paul McCreesh, Dorothea Röschmann, Susan Gritton, Gabrieli Consort & Players, Bernarda Fink, Charles Daniels, Neal Davies

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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028945346427
Format: Import
Label: Archiv Prod Import
Manufacturer: Archiv Prod Import
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Archiv Prod Import
Release Date: August 01, 1997
Sales Rank: 164775
Studio: Archiv Prod Import

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Disc 2:

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
You would think that everyone in the world owned a copy of Messiah by now, and that there would certainly be no need to record new ones very year. Wrong! Here's DG's 1997 entry, and it's a fine one too. The only reservation is the recorded sound, which seems to be somewhat congested at the climaxes, as though the chorus and orchestra were recorded in differing acoustic spaces. Otherwise, this is as fine an 'authentic' performance as we're likely to get. --David Hurwitz

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- So Many Messiahs, So Little Time
Yes, the Hogwood, Pinnock, Christie, and even Parrott Messiahs all have their merits, usually in the virtuosity of one or another of the soloists. Likewise, every performance of the Messiah has moments when the conductor falls asleep or the brass players are too absorbed in their crossword puzzles to drain their spit valves in time. There is no definitive Messiah.

The five soloists on the recording are easily separated into the sheep and the goats. (Have you ever spent any time with sheep or goats? Me, I find the goats far better company.) Bass Neal Davies and tenor Charles Daniels are stellar in every way - beautiful tone, agile dodging through the sixteenth note thickets, bang-on intonation, and articulate expression. Soprano Susan Gritton has the agility and the intonation, but lacks a certain edge of expressive intensity. Bernarda Fink and Dorothea Roeschman, to my ears, sing quite well in their ... Read More

Rating:

- Maybe my favorite Messiah
It's hard to have one favorite for a work with so many diverse challenges and rewards; it's far too big for any one performance. But though I have a dozen or so recordings, this is the Messiah I've had the highest joys-to-frustrations ratio with for the last few years.

Perhaps its strongest point, to my ears, is the technical assurance of the soloists, at no cost to their musicality. The thing that has jarred me most often from my enjoyment of this work is soloists just not quite hitting notes or articulating them cleanly, even with baroque specialists in other well regarded period performances, such as Hogwood and Pinnock. ("I shall shake" may as well be "I shall slide" in most recordings.) I agree with a previous reviewer who observes that McCreesh benefits from the maturity of period performance practices, which made great advances even in the decade leading up to this recording. The soloists ... Read More

Rating:

- A top drawer version for authenticists and fans of same
People's preferences about Handel's Messiah are typically built on whether or not they enjoy the version being put forth. Paul McCreesh's performance, from the end of the last century, is the Foundling Hopsital performing version Handel may have known in his day. It substitutes certain women's voices -- and a countertenor in other recordings -- for certain arias a bass sings in traditional performances such as those led by Marriner and Colin Davis.

I think this is a five-star performance for fans of the authenticity movement even though I have a few quibbles -- the tenor overinterprets my favorite aria, "Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My People", and one of the sopranoes, I don't know which one, has an uncontrollabe vibrato in "He Shall Feed His Flock". In addition, the "Hallelujah" chorus hardly bursts forth from a big band orchestra to tumultuous singing by a 200-member choir; that's what you get in an authentic ... Read More

Rating:

- Misses the mark-by a bit
Maestro McCreesh's 1996 effort is a strong contender among the PI (period instrument) crowd. The orchestra doesn't screech, the chorus has weight, decent diction and color and the soloists have fine voices particularly the sopranos and the contralto.
McCreesh appears to see the Messiah as drama or perhaps as opera. For example, contralto Bernarda Fink's desire for us feel her pain in "He was despised..." is over the top and distracting. The apparent intent of the players to strive for effect and to shade every word robs the performance of genuine sincerity-this is a work of spiritual expression after all. Nevertheless I enjoyed the performance for what it was and the interpretative approach will appeal to many.

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Music : Handel - Messiah / Röschmann, Gritton, Fink , C. Daniels, N. Davies; McCreesh
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