Handel: Messiah

George Frederick Handel (Composer), Owen Burdick (Conductor), Trinity Orchestra (Orchestra), Bethany Hodges (Performer), Janine Ullyette (Performer), Rebekah Wilshire (Performer), Benjamin Brecher (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bethany Hodges, Janine Ullyette, Rebekah Wilshire, Benjamin Brecher
• Orchestra: Trinity Orchestra
• Conductor: Owen Burdick
• Composer: George Frederick Handel
• Audio CD (November 30, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B00002R16A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,463 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a great recording!, February 10, 2000

By 

Antonio Leite (New York City, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handel: Messiah (Audio CD)

I was really surprised with the new that the Messiah's New World premiere was held at Trinity Church in October 1770, twenty-eight years after it was written. This fact only will make one proud in having this CD among his collection.

Anyhow, this is nothing more than a historic detail and would not count if this recording had not an outstanding first-rate ensemble of singers. Without doubt there is no definitive version of Messiah. Each one has its own distinctive touch and feeling and exploring it is always a pleasant journey through imagination.

As stated by the conductor: "we must concede that performing Messiah with twenty singers and an appropriately balanced instrumental ensemble represents, at best, an imperfect comprimise", it will be easy to understand that this recording does not stand among the greatest and will probably carry some imperfections. I will mention two that kind of disppointed me a little bit. The Overture and the Chorus Worthy is the Lamb, for some reason misses the habitual vigor and strenght. Everything else is great and this is definitely a worth buying.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An historical perspective, especially for New Yorkers, December 7, 2008

By 

L. Lubin (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handel: Messiah (Audio CD)

As mentioned above, this recording was made in Trinity Church on Wall Street, New York, where The Messiah had its North American premiere in 1770. But that is not the only matter of historical significance to be noted here.
This recording was made in 1999, released in time for Easter, when I first heard it previewed on the radio with an interview with the conductor, Dr. Owen Burdick. (Owen was a classmate of mine at SUNY Purchase, where he kept a harpsichord under his bed in what had been my room the previous year. But that was a long time ago.) I have seen Owen several times since, and I have sung operas at Trinity and its sister, St. Paul's Chapel.
I was struck by the clarity of the small group of young choristers and the precision of diction, as well as the rightness of the tempi; I resolved to buy a copy as soon as possible an did so.
One and a half years later occurred the horrendous tragedy of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, only a few blocks away from Trinity Church. (The Twin Towers appear behind the church on the cover photograph.) While it became impossible to clear the dust and debris from Trinity's organ, Owen and his choristers, from which the soloists are drawn, were still able to arrange a performance with orchestra and a portable organ, which was broadcast on WQXR radio. That performance, freighted as it was with such profound emotional weight, was the greatest experience of this oratorio I have ever had. I stood on the edge of the mighty Palisades, looking downstream at where the towers had stood, when the sudden crash of the tympani began the final Amen Chorus, and tears flowed from my eyes. I could clearly see the tongues of flame dance above the musicians heads in my mind. Trinity's annual Messiah broadcasts have become a New York tradition.
This recording is not so emotionally fraught, but is still an exceptional souvenir, one of four Messiah recordings I cherish; Gardiner's and Marriner's (the later London version), and even Brrcham's being the other three. There are other particular New York touches: for example,the alto aria "But who may abide" is given to the bass as it was here in 1770, not the alternate bass aria from Handel's London version.
As stated above, there is no definitive performance of The Messiah, just as there is no definitive performing version. But Dr. Burdick's choices are musically sound, his artists are fresh and fervent, and their collective passion is evident.
This is a fine addition to any collection, not only as an only or additional recording of a masterpiece, but as a testament to the history of the Greatest City in the World, before history changed us forever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure, November 26, 2007

By 

C. C. Cynova "RevTigger" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Handel: Messiah (Audio CD)

I do not pretend to be any sort of an expert when it comes to the different CD versions of Messiah. I have many of them, because I enjoy the music.

There is something about this CD though. A purity of notes. An unaffected singing. Whatever it is, I have enjoyed listening, very very much. It is as if the music is all new again. I am delighted.