Topic: Handel: Messiah Oratorio

[DarkAngel]

DA,    This is a very enjoyable set with very refreshing performance and I was pleasantly surprised.  The soprano singing has a certain purity and naturalness to it compared with other sopranos who have often overdone in the coloratura department. 

 
OK since we all agree the Butt/Linn Records is a great version of Messiah has anyone taken the next logical step and purchased the same groups Bach St Matthew Passion? (I confess to taking the plunge)
 

[DarkAngel]

Another recording which is one of my favorites is that done in 1983 by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and The Sixteen.  I believe that it's been rereleased a number of times, so try and find a less expensive new version as opposed to the used editions usually found at Amazon.  You can find it at Presto Classical for about $12.00 which makes it a real bargain.

  New Cover: 

 
Bunny if only I had known this several days ago when I placed small order with MDT (UK) that included the new Andreas Staier Goldberg Variations it would have been in the buy basket also!   

[Novi]

DA,    This is a very enjoyable set with very refreshing performance and I was pleasantly surprised.  The soprano singing has a certain purity and naturalness to it compared with other sopranos who have often overdone in the coloratura department. 

Yay, finally someone else who likes Susan Hamilton. Everyone I've met really dislikes her voice. I like her kind of unrefined naturalness and that she sings with a lovely freedom, if that makes sense. There was a great moment in the Dunedin Consort's Actus Tragicus a couple of years ago where her 'Ja, komm, Herr Jesu' pierced through and simply soared joyously above the more uncompromising 'Es ist der alte Bund' - it was glorious.

I used the term low-budget to describe the production costs and not the performance, as I am convinced this recording cost a bit less to produce than most other versions.

OVPP = save on choir fee

[Bunny]

OK since we all agree the Butt/Linn Records is a great version of Messiah has anyone taken the next logical step and purchased the same groups Bach St Matthew Passion? (I confess to taking the plunge)
 

I've been considering that St. Matthew's, but I've read some very mixed things about it.  ClassicsToday is tepid; C/T France hates it, no surprise as they also hated the Dubin Messiah from the same forces.  Gramophone's review qualifies the positives and notes the negatives so relentlessly that I begin to think the reviewer couldn't make up his mind, or hated it but didn't want to offend.  Even the more enthusiastic reviews describe it as an "alternative" rather than a reference.  I'll be very interested in what you think of it!

[Coopmv]

OK since we all agree the Butt/Linn Records is a great version of Messiah has anyone taken the next logical step and purchased the same groups Bach St Matthew Passion? (I confess to taking the plunge)
 

Highly unlikely.  I only buy St Matthew Passion performed by either German or Dutch ensembles.

[Bunny]

Bunny if only I had known this several days ago when I placed small order with MDT (UK) that included the new Andreas Staier Goldberg Variations it would have been in the buy basket also!   

No matter!  I'm sure it will still be there the next time you order.

[kishnevi]

I used the term low-budget to describe the production costs and not the performance, as I am convinced this recording cost a bit less to produce than most other versions.  I actually have the version by the Sixteen and Harry Christopher on Hyperion, which I have not listened to in a number of years.  I do not have the version by Koopman, though I have two versions by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, which are the only non-British ensembles performing this work in my collection ...

There's also the recording Christopher and the Sixteen released on their own label, CORO, in 2008 (it was recorded in 2007, so it's not simply a re-issue of the Hyperion recording), with Sampson, Wyn-Rogers, Padmore and Purves as the solists.   Of the three recordings of M. that I have, it's my second preference: my first preference goes to the Jacobs set.  (Version number 3 is the one Colin Davis did with the LSO back in 1966, before some of us were born...)

[Coopmv]

There's also the recording Christopher and the Sixteen released on their own label, CORO, in 2008 (it was recorded in 2007, so it's not simply a re-issue of the Hyperion recording), with Sampson, Wyn-Rogers, Padmore and Purves as the solists.   Of the three recordings of M. that I have, it's my second preference: my first preference goes to the Jacobs set.  (Version number 3 is the one Colin Davis did with the LSO back in 1966, before some of us were born...)

The Colin Davis 1966 or 1967 Philips recording was a ground-breaking recording in the sense that it was the first set that decidedly broke away from the traditional Victorian practice espoused by Sir Malcolm Sargent when massive choir was used.  I believe it was then followed by recordings by Charles Mackerras and Raymond Leppard with the then newly created English Chamber Orchestra.  I still have the Sir Colin's Philips LP set in pristine condition.  I bought the set in the mid 70's.

I also have the Sir Malcolm's set on cassette tapes.

[Bunny]

The Colin Davis 1966 or 1967 Philips recording was a ground-breaking recording in the sense that it was the first set that decidedly broke away from the traditional Victorian practice espoused by Sir Malcolm Sargent when massive choir was used.  I believe it was then followed by recordings by Charles Mackerras and Raymond Leppard with the then newly created English Chamber Orchestra.  I still have the Sir Colin's Philips LP set in pristine condition.  I bought the set in the mid 70's.

I also have the Sir Malcolm's set on cassette tapes.

Sir Colin's second one with the BRSO (c. 1990) is not with small forces and is almost operatic in its scope.  However, it doesn't feel Victorian either.

[Coopmv]

Sir Colin's second one with the BRSO (c. 1990) is not with small forces and is almost operatic in its scope.  However, it doesn't feel Victorian either.

Was it 1990?  I thought it was earlier.  At any rate, the set is OOP but I may have taped it off the air on one of my open-reel tapes.  I am probably the only forum member that have a bunch of classical music on open-reels ...   

[Marc]

I like both recordings by Colin Davis, but the differences are very very marginal. In the sixties his approach was rather new, and in the eighties no one really was waiting for a rehearsal, I guess. Personally, I'm not that fond of the singing of Hanna Schwarz in the second recording. Therefore I prefer the first.

About Butt and his Bach SMP: very worthwhile IMO. Much more expressive than McCreesh (whose recording I find far too smooth) and better blending of the OVPP-choir parts.

BTW, here's a link to the SMP thread:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,4877.0.html

[Coopmv]

I like both recordings by Colin Davis, but the differences are very very marginal. In the sixties his approach was rather new, and in the eighties no one really was waiting for a rehearsal, I guess. Personally, I'm not that fond of the singing of Hanna Schwarz in the second recording. Therefore I prefer the first.

About Butt and his Bach SMP: very worthwhile IMO. Much more expressive than McCreesh (whose recording I find far too smooth) and better blending of the OVPP-choir parts.

BTW, here's a link to the SMP thread:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,4877.0.html

I hear you.  I have the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 by the VPO with Bernstein on DVD.  I did not particularly like the singing of Hanna Schwarz.