Handel: Messiah Oratorio

[hornteacher]

Okay, 90% of my CD library is instrumental music.  The only exceptions are Mozart's "Big 4" operas and Requiem plus a few Bach Cantatas and Beethoven's Missa.  So I'm ready to get into a full performance of the Messiah and would like suggestions.

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EDIT:

Two previous threads (with the same name) on the old forum:

Handel's Messiah
Handel's Messiah

Que

[Anne]

This is not what you asked for, but a friend told me to listen to Beecham's.  It's on CD.

[longears]

We were at this performance and it was wonderful.

[PSmith08]

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants on Harmonia Mundi.

A good, solid HIP recording that manages to be neither doctrinaire or facile.

[MichaelRabin]

Go with the old Sir Colin Davis version on its Philips 24-96 mastering.

[david johnson]

beecham...heheheh...an absolute riot!  great stuff that will give the purist heart failure.
not ddd though.

dj

[Anne]

beecham...heheheh...an absolute riot!  great stuff that will give the purist heart failure.
not ddd though.

dj

You're right.  He did say it was wonderful but not for purists.  It was good enough for me.  I apologize; I should have said that in my original post.

[Keemun]

Okay, 90% of my CD library is instrumental music.  The only exceptions are Mozart's "Big 4" operas and Requiem plus a few Bach Cantatas and Beethoven's Missa.  So I'm ready to get into a full performance of the Messiah and would like suggestions.

Two requests:

1) DDD recording
2) Full performance (no highlight CDs)

Suggestions please.

Hornteacher, my first suggestion is to get a good recording of Brahms' German Requiem. 

Back on topic, of the two Messiahs I have, I enjoy this one the most:

[Que]

My favourite Messiah is Hogwood's. Superb soloists, ditto choir under Simon Preston, and an immense joy throughout the recording. It simply gets everything right, and sounds profoundly Händelian.



Q


PS it's an (excellent) analogue recording from 1980.

[Keemun]

That's next on the list.

Excellent. 

[Harry]

My favourite Messiah is Hogwood's. Superb soloists, ditto choir under Simon Preston, and an immense joy throughout the recording. It simply gets everything right, and sounds profoundly Händelian.



Q


PS it's an (excellent) analogue recording from 1980.

I join in, shall I ?.....

[rubio]

My favourite Messiah is Hogwood's. Superb soloists, ditto choir under Simon Preston, and an immense joy throughout the recording. It simply gets everything right, and sounds profoundly Händelian.



Q


PS it's an (excellent) analogue recording from 1980.

I third this recommendation! It's my favourite. My other versions are Pinnock, Koopman, Dunedin Consort and Christie. Probably Christie is the one I like the least (a bit boring in places), and it's a while since I heard Pinnock.

[hautbois]

The Pinnock is BEAUTIFUL. DG really records with superb clarity here, and the English Concert shines in every aspect possible. In a time where the market was overflooded by recordings of Messiah, Pinnock induced precision and much insight into a piece much taken advantage of. I stil prefer it over the Hogwood, i don't exactly know why, if i have to say, probably the outstanding contributions of Anne Sofie.



Howard

[BorisG]

A public notice. I still have several near and dear Handel recordings, but Messiah, Water Music, Royal Fireworks have been banished.

[Bogey]

My favourite Messiah is Hogwood's. Superb soloists, ditto choir under Simon Preston, and an immense joy throughout the recording. It simply gets everything right, and sounds profoundly Händelian.



Q


PS it's an (excellent) analogue recording from 1980.

My choice as well.

[Expresso]

Andrew Parrott's Messiah is also very good. Superb singing on this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Handel-Messiah-George-Frideric/dp/B00005TNMM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1198569592&sr=8-1

[DavidW]

Two requests:

1) DDD recording
2) Full performance (no highlight CDs)

Suggestions please.

The second request is reasonable, the first doesn't really make sense to me so I'll pretend you never said something that silly.  Try Hogwood, he's the tops.  I didn't at first think so, but now I do. 

[Coopmv]

As a lover of choral music, I own over 95% of all the recorded Handel's oratorios.  While I admire Bach St Matthew Passion, it certainly does not surpass Messiah IMO.  Here are the versions of Messiah Oratorio I have on CD and other media as indicated.

London Symphony Orch/Davis*                Philips
Acad. of Ancient Music/Hogwood* +                L'oiseau Lyre
Stockholm Choir/Harnoncourt                TELDEC
English Concert/Pinnock                             Archive
English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner*                Philips
ASMIF/Marriner/Ameling                             London
English Chamber/Leppard*                             ERATO
16 Choir & Orch/Christophers                Hyperion
ASMIF/Marriner/McNair +                               Philips
Concentus Musicus/Harnoncourt(SACD)   Harmonia
London Symphony Orch/Davis(SACD)                LSO Live
Barvarian Radio Symphony Orch/Davis              Philips (open-reel)
ASMIF/Marriner/Ameling                                 ARGO (LP ONLY)
English Chamber Orch/Mackerras                     Angel (LP ONLY)
LaGrand Ecurie & LaChambre du Roy/Malgoire    CBS (LP ONLY West Germany)
ASMIF/Marriner/Ameling                                 Barclay-Crocker (open-reel)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Malcolm Sargent     Seraphim (cassette)

* I have the LP-sets in addition to the CD-sets
+ I have DVD, VHS or both in addition to the CD-sets

My top choice is the version by Christopher Hogwood, though that has taken some time to develop.

My second choice is the version by Neville Marriner with the great Dutch soprano Elly Ameling.

My third choice is the version by John Eliot Gardiner.

Hopefully, American members will not get upset with me, as there are no American ensembles here because the English are vastly superior to anything we have stateside.  Handel Messiah is in their DNA ...

[Coopmv]

Just realized I left out the following sets after I have taken a look at my record shelf.

English Chamber Orch/Mackerras                     Angel (LP ONLY)
LaGrand Ecurie & LaChambre du Roy/Malgoire    CBS (LP ONLY West Germany)

I would love to hear what fellow choral music lovers have to say about this monumental work of the baroque era ...

[Andante]

A Friend of mine has 5 recordings and I thought he was mad, but you are something else   I also am a lover of choral but only have 3 recordings the best IMO is =  English Concert/Pinnock  on  Archive I do have a tape with the Huddersfield choral society can't remember the other details