Customer Reviews

Handel: Messiah ~ Harnoncourt

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One comes to this new SACD performance of Handel's Messiah with high hopes. Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien have a well-deserved buzz for being musical pioneers who blazed new and interesting trails in the early music, period performance, and period instrument movements. One of the more interesting period instrument Messiah's has long been Harnoncourt's earlier effort, captured on red book 16-bit CD.

A glance over the four soloists raises our hopes further. Soprano Christine Schafer has just the silver bell voice that can ring out joy in Messiah's arias, a possible equal of one of my great favs, Elly Ameling, or another fav, Arlene Auger. Tenor Michael Schade, ditto. One expects a lot of him just on recorded reputation so far. Will he stand tall in the heraldic line that includes singers like Richard Lewis, Philip Langridge, John Aler, Jon Vickers? Mezzo Anna Larsson steps up, with the memories of really great altos hanging in the balance - the likes of Janet Baker, Yvonne Minton, Anna Reynolds, Anne Sophie von Otter, Helen Watts. Finally, we come to bass baritone Gerald Finley. He, too, might stand in honor of a lineage that has included the likes of Gorgio Tozzi, Gwynne Howell, Bejamin Luxon, Nathan Berg, Alastair Miles, John Cheek, John Tomlinson, Justino Diaz - and one of the great recorded treats, Bryn Terfel in the Chandos / Collegium 90 recording.

No recording of Messiah can fail to take account of the chorus. The Schoenberg Chorus have done very fine work on other recordings - including a cherished Harnoncourt-led (earlier, with Gruberova) Haydn Creation that still sits on my fav shelf. One wonders how they will fare here?

Well, here is the score card, with comments.

Given high hopes, this entirely competent performance disappoints.

The high resolution sound is captured very well, at rather mid-hall position in the famous Vienna venue. Surround sound channels only make more obvious what is mainly missing from this one: Commitment, energy.

If you want to hear Messiah in original instruments, you can go to several other recorded versions, and get a less soporific experience of the work. Messiah is a holiday music tradition, true, in many parts of the world. But it was - and still is, actually - an innovative and controversial work that broke new ground for oratorio (especially in English), for setting sacred texts, and for showing that a work of sheer musical genius that towers high in the genre could also be wildly popular. The major period performance competitors include: Valentin Radu / Ama Deus Ensemble on Vox, Suzuki / Japan Bach Collegium on BIS, Gardiner / Monteverdi Choir on DGG, Pinnock / English Concert on DGG (Arlene Auger), Ton Koopman / Amsterdam Baroque (inactive), Scholars on Naxos, and Hickox / Collegium 90 on Chandos. As a Messiah fan who listens to this music all year round, I can get more heart and more excitement out of any of the competing alternative sets than I can hear in this second outing by Harnoncourt and company. My momentary favs are circling around Radu - probably the punchiest period instrument version so far, capturing an edgy fire that belies its budget price as well as its local cast of Philadelphia unfamous singers and players; and, of course, the Collegium 90 set with the amazing Bryn Terfel, caught in peak form way before he became famous and possibly over-exposed in cross-over pop classics; and thirdly the thrilling, committed version by William Christie / Les Arts Florissant on Harmonia Mundi.

There is nothing terribly wrong with the second Harnoncourt, here, except that it should have been so much better than it actually turned out to be. The chorus is fine, and so are the soloists. Nobody is beneath the music in the technical sense. But the whole business is so entirely customary, polished, and uneventful that it reminds me of all those gala opening nights at the symphony where the real point is to dress up, raise money, and show just how glamorously involved everybody is. This Harnoncourt occasion is all dressed up in black velvet and pearls - and misses the musical point of Messiah by just that much.

A legendary exchange in conversation between one of the British nobility and the composer captures the point. Lord so-and-so supposedly remarked to Handel, after attending one Messiah performance, that it had all been a pretty fine affair, socially and musically very entertaining. Handel's reply was to the effect that he hoped not only to entertain his audience, but to actually make them better people. Listening to this newest Harnoncourt offering doesn't make me better. Given the simply huge talents it tapped for its members, I am curmudgeonly enough and onery enough to still think that it should.

So, disappointing. Three stars at regular and forgetful best.

If you want to widen the circle to include regular instrument performances, you get access to really wonderful alternatives that have hung around in the CD catalogues for some time. My favs from this large group currently include: Mackerras / Ambrosian Singers on EMI; Robert Shaw / Singers on Sony BMG; Westenburg / Musica Sacra on Sony BMG; and the outrageous but zingy Beecham / RPO on Sony BMG. Somary / Amor Artis is currently out of catalogue; but Artemis Classics is re-issuing much of the old Vanguard Recording Society catalogue, often in stunning 5.1 Dolby Digital remixed sound - so keep an eye out.

Put one of the richly sung and lively alternatives on the player, then. Sit back, and let yourself get lost for about two hours in just how amazing this oratorio really is. If you pay attention, you will surely conclude that Handel wrote an enduring masterpiece that is better than it ever can be played and sung, on any given occasion. (Schnabel talking about the Beethoven sonatas.) Or, as Beethoven said, gesturing towards a manuscript of Handel's Messiah, There lies the truth.

I like this recording despite some interpretative details that have proved mannered on repeated listening. With Harnoncourt leading the performers, there is always a clear interpretive point of view whether I agree with the immediate choices or not. I remember an interview some years back in which Harnoncourt explained his gentle treatment of the end of "His yoke is easy." He said that the typical near screaming of references to easy yokes and light burdens is not in keeping with the text. So agree or not the interpretation flows from a point of view and not generalized "performance practice". There are times, however, when the strongly rhetorical renderings of the airs create too great contrast with the rather traditional choral work. As an example, the emphatic "But who may abide" is followed by a comfortably ambling performance of the chorus "And He shall purify". Although not as pronounced as Jacobs lightening of effect, "For unto us" displays a similar mincing of the choral acclamations, particularly "Prince of Peace". I suppose one can argue it reflects the text. Perhaps taking his cue from Handel's reported "vision of heaven" to his servant, Harnoncourt begins "Hallelujah" in a almost dream-like state, holding back the fireworks for the conclusion. The listener will have to decide for themselves whether it works or not.

The Schoenberg Choir is clearly a virtuoso ensemble and makes a very strong contribution to the proceedings. Unfortunately, in common with many German speaking choirs, they sing in accented English that can be a little irritating. The English "s" sound (is, his, this, etc.) usually comes out as the double s sound in "hiss". Vowels are sometimes distorted as well. Concerning the soloists, the ladies are good, but that problem of germanic diction is somewhat intrusive. I am impressed by the men. The vibrant voices of the tenor and bass recall the more sensuous sounds and heroic manner of bygone days. Finley, is, I believe, the only native Anglophone in the group.

The orchestra blends precision and beguiling tone with the tanginess of period instruments. We've come a long way from the sawing, scraping and surging that passed for historic performance even a few years ago.

The SACD multi channel sound is satisfying. There is a nice stereo image without a hole in the middle and the rear channels are restricted to subtle hall ambience - no instruments sprinting to the back of the hall in this recording. I downgrade the overall rating because of some interpretive details and my irritation with some of the pronunciation. Contrary to some comments, this recording isn't the first to give us Handel's unedited setting of the word "incorruptible" (in "The trumpet shall sound") with the accent on the "tib". Hogwood did it in his late 1970s/early 1980s version as did Parrott on Virgin Classics and Suzuki on BIS. Hogwood raised critical hackles and one suggestion that the bass soloist should be banned from singing in English for a year!

Handel's Messiah was one of the first major Baroque works that every period-style conductor rushed to free from its Victorian muffler. Now it's been 20 years of violins with no vibrato, boy sporanos, choirs reduced to the bare minimum, and clipped double-dotitng with explosive accents. It's a style, all rght, but not one that I've exactly embraced. Harnoncourt's earlier Teldec recording was among the more aggressive ones, but this new one changes tack entirely.

This version is openly romantic, with full-voiced women in the chorus. It uses a lot of expressive rubato, soft-pedalled accents, religious reverence, and other accoutrements that hark back, amazingly, to the style of Thomas Beecham. The chorus is smallish, and the violins still eschew vibrato, but Harnoncourt gives us an all-around softening of lines that is refeshing. No more clipped double-dotting! One is reminded that the Baroque was a floridly expressive era, and there is no excuse for desiccating the Messiah.

Harnoncourt's ideas are idiosyncratic, of course. We get fast chrouses that come out slow and vice versa. Among his soloists, Gerald Finely stands out as the only serious rival to Quasthoff and Shirley-Quirk for dramatic impact. Christine Schafer isn't a native English speaker, and she tiptoes verbally around her part, but otherwise she is in good form. Anna Larson can't hope to rival Janet Baker and Helen Watts, but in her plain way she's an asset; it's a relief to hear a deep mezzo instead of a squeaky countertenor. Swiss tenor Michael Schade sings in excellent English, and he is canny about negotiating the very difficult tenor lines by alternating semi-crooning and full voice.

Ever since the Messiah was unleashed, we have become accumstomed to anything-goes in tempos, editions, embellishments, alternate versions, etc. Harnoncourt mixes and matches, like everyone else. If I could characterize his approach in a word, it would be spontaneous--he wants us to believe that this music is inspiring him by the moment, and since he is a quirky musician, we must expect his inspirations to be quirky. They are, yet I thoroughly enjoyed his Messiah in the way I enjoyed Hermann Scherchen's, another quirky conductor, fifty years ago.

I must admit, I am an Harnoncourt fan, especially after having spoken with the maestro in person and saw his post-concert enthusiasm first hand. I admire his pioneer work in period performances and going to the sources (Urtext) when possible. Two other reviewers weren't thrilled with this recording, which is hardly a surprise given the old warhorse recordings that they prefer. This is a lively interpretation and not "slimmed down" - it doesn't sound like Mahler (nothing against Mahler of course). Harnoncourt is always an adventure and sometimes challenges hearing habits.

...so anyway I'm listening and enjoying immensely what I'm hearing and I'm thinking well if this is what all the fuss is about big deal I mean everybody's criticizing Harnoncourt's choices of tempi and soloist assignments and whatall well what's the big deal it still SOUNDS great and like what else is there really besides overall sound and satisfaction and the soloists are good (contralto's not bad) to great (soprano Schaefer and tenor Michael Schade and baritone Finley) and the Arnold Schoenberg Chorus is just peaches 'n' cream I mean smooth as silk and unbelievably beautiful and the playing of Concentus Musicus Wien is second to none and Harnoncourt's been doing early music since probably before I was even a listener and anyway there's plenty of ways to skin the proverbial cat so how far off can this Messiah be and like I said it SOUNDS just superbly good and is TOTALLY satisfying and then finally the Hallelujah Chorus starts...and it's like pianissimo with soft and rounded edges and WHOA!!! So THAT's what all the commotion is about? Well in my humble opinion it's great. It's a fresh look at an old warhorse of the highest order by a supreme executor of early and choral music styles performed exquisitely well and recorded beautifully and it WORKS!

Seriously, I LOVE this recording. From the tenor's first unusual utterance in "Comfort ye" to the pianissimo opening of the Hallelujah Chorus it is deeply satisfying. There are a number of high-quality Messiah recordings available in standard and early music versions, large and small ensemble versions, and with operatic singers and with chamber singers; to designate a single one as the best is somewhere between pointless and impossible. For conventional Messiah performance style, this is clearly not the choice. But how important is "conventional style," how relevant is it, and what is the basis for it? For fine music making that is well thought out, well executed, and well recorded, this second Harnoncourt version is a clear contender, a real beaut. I recommend it wholeheartedly!

When oh when will I ever stop purchasing recordings of Messiah? Apparently not this year, as I've just popped for Harnoncourt's latest remake on DHM. It arrived the other day and I've just given it a listen.

Thus, the title for this review.

Like Harnoncourt's earlier effort on Teldec, this recording is drawn from live performances. Unlike his earlier effort, there is no discernable audience noise on this go 'round. The overall sound of the recording is state of the art (though as I don't own an SACD player I auditioned it on a regular CD player). The short story is that you can hear EVERYTHING on this recording. There's plenty of space around the performers without any boominess. The recording sounds very natural and internal voices are clear without being overdone. It's a recording that falls very gracefully on the ear.

With Harnoncourt in charge any recording promises to be interesting. That such interest doesn't always translate into recommendation status is just the way it goes. In that respect, this recording foots the usual Harnoncourt bill. Interpretively, there's much to enjoy here. There are a few rhetorical gestures that anyone familiar with Harnoncourt's later recordings (and philosophies) will find engaging. This is most certainly not baroque music guided by the metronome. In fact, Harnoncourt is willing to bend tempi within a movement (mostly, the solos) with the best of them. Maazel on New Year's Day in Vienna might even bow to Harnoncourt's free-wheeling approach (which includes a Beecham-esque accelerando at the end of the "Hallelujah" chorus!). So, there's plenty to enjoy here, especially if you're listening attentively rather than casually.

Also, it must be said that the overall approach here is very similar to Harnoncourt's Teldec version. He pulls a "George Costanza" on occasion, ie: doing the opposite of what the traditionalists might have done. This usually translates into ending some of the big choruses femininely, rather than punching home the final cadence in the mode of Sargent or Beecham...or most American-based recordings. That particular Harnoncourt gesture becomes somewhat stock-in-trade and rather expected after a while, even affecting the final "Amen" chorus, which here ends as a big anti climax (maybe they played the Sabre Dance as an encore at the live concert). I guess that's a sign that we've transitioned in our expectations of what's going to happen when the pros get their hands on Messiah in the 21st century.

Where the recording bows to the very greatest recordings is in the vocal work. Harnoncourt's line-up of soloists - while impressive on its face - has only one outstanding exponent of Messiah's solos: soprano Christine Schaefer. Tenor Michael Schade - who I have enjoyed elsewhere, particularly in Helmut Rilling's Bach recordings - is here outclassed by the competition of, among others, Richard Lewis, Alexander Young, Jon Vickers and Philip Langridge, to name but a few. Schade makes a few oddly Germanic pronunciations that don't help (the same problem afflicts the choir). Mezzo Anna Larson has a pleasing enough voice in the non-distinct way that seems all the rage these days (can you really tell her apart from the other mezzi out there?), but her coloratura can often be disfigured by aspirations that sound imported from 1960s baroque practice. And it must be said that even Gerald Finley (who can go from outstanding to "huh?" within a phrase) bows to the very greatest basses who have recorded Messiah - Gwynne Howell, Justino Diaz, Giorgio Tozzi, Donald McIntyre to name but a few. I will admit that it is fun to finally hear a rendition of "The Trumpet Shall Sound" that offers Handel's strange-by-modern-ears setting of the word "incoruptable," which here is sung (as written) as "in-cor-rup-TEE-ble," with the rhythmic accent on the "tee" syllable! An enjoyable case of the right acCENT on the wrong sylLAble.

The uncredited-on-the-CD-booklet-cover Arnold Schoenberg Choir (shame on dhm!) is nothing short of spectacular in delivering what Harnoncourt asks for. The problem I have is what he's asking for. The overall sound of the choir is very, very soft edged, and while they never lapse into crooning (or worse, whispering) the sound they produce lacks variety. I also find it particularly wrong-headed to have the tenor section resort to a falsetto sound whenever they venture above an F (their exposed high A in the Hallelujah chorus is - to put it mildly - mincing). The choir has a great sense of legato (something often missing in those all-diction-and-no-tone choirs from jolly old England), but it's a legato produced through an omission of, rather than an application of energy. It's all just a bit too controlled, too smooth...too the opposite of what I like to hear in a Messiah chorus. I wish that just once or even twice the choir would grow a set and cut loose with the kind of thrills that only the human voice can supply! I'd like to hear them bite into the words a bit, pitch those consonants where it's appropriate and give us a sustained tone with a bit of shimmer underpining it. Is that too much to ask these days? Maybe so...maybe so.

And while I'm on the subject, I have MY usual problems with the assigning of certain vocal numbers to certain voices. Yes - we all know that Handel penned his virtuoso version of "But who may abide" in 1750 for Guadagno, but I still like his original bass setting and have no problems with a bass singing the 1750 variant, even if Handel never performed that variant with a bass. It makes sense in the recitative-aria tradition. And besides, Handel also penned tenor and soprano versions of that 1750 version, so why is it always done by the mezzo nowadays? Similarly, I'm not a fan of splitting up the sequence "All they that see him" through "But thou dids't not leave his soul in hell" among the soloists. I like to hear it all done by the tenor, sort of as a counterpart to the soprano's little sequence of solos that ends Part I. Great tenors like Lewis, Young and Vickers made so much of this sequence, telling a tale through vocal color and tonal variation. I miss that in all of these recent recordings. They made be "more correct" in one respect, but I find the choice less interesting. And besides, Handel did originally write the sequence for tenor, even if he changed his mind in practice and divided it up.

So I give this recording an average rating. I'll most likely give it a listen (or two) during the coming Xmas season, but - alas - it will probably end up gathering dust on the shelf by 2006.

For the record: I'm not very enamoured of so-called HIP performances in general, but I will listen to them if they've got something to say. My own recommendations for enjoyable Messiah recordings go something like this:

1. Sir Neville Marriner's on Decca (NOT his Philips version).

2. Karl Richter's english version on DG

3. Robert Shaw's 1966 version on RCA

4. Beecham's remake on RCA

5. Somary on Vanguard (mostly for the best-rounded soloists on CD and choir...the interpretation and exaggerated ornamentation get tiring)

On edit - added Dec 5, 2005:

I have now had a second chance to listen to this recording...and I find myself liking it less than I did the first time around. Harnoncourt's mannerisms are even more obtrusive than they were on the initial hearing, and I'm disliking tenor Michael Shade. His funky ornamentation and clipped note values are very annoying.

You may find my CD copy in the used bin in short order.

Although I lack the apparent credentials of previous reviewers for this recording, I do have some experience with Messiah, both as a listener and as a chorister.

I first heard this performance on my local public-radio station (WOSU in Columbus, OH) several years ago. It was Christmas Eve, and I was too tired to attend Lessons and Carols at my church. Glass of wine in hand and expecting to fall asleep somewhere around "Glory to God in the highest," I found myself intrigued with Harnoncourt's interpretation.

Then the baritone soloist, Gerald Finley, offered up "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth," and I was in for the duration. Holy cow, what a voice! On top of that, his solos are singularly sensitive and exhilarating, and his stamina is awesome. Finley's renditions of "Why do the nations?" and "The trumpet shall sound" are stunning. I hope that G.F. Handel has a perch in heaven from which he can hear these arias sung with such verve and utter competence.

Christine Schafer, the soprano, also acquitted herself very well. Her voice is lovely, her pitch admirably precise, and her interpretations quite satisfying.

I also quite like the chorus, which is well modulated and balanced. Too bad that some listeners are bothered by the singers' lack of a voiced sibilant; they're German, for goodness' sake! I challenge you to say "Weltanschauung" in a manner that doesn't identify you as someone whose first language is English. (Hint: be careful with the "uu.")

As to Harnoncourt, I thank him every time I listen to this recording. I adore the performance and, two or three times a year, treat myself to an uninterrupted time to hear it once again. For me, this CD is a "must have."

Along all his extensive career, Harnoncourt had been compeled to face critics and misunderstandings of his work, with the period performances and with symphonic orchestras. Harnoncourt is not only one of the greatest conductors of our time but also a musicological expert and a pioneer of the historically informed performances. All his decisions in musical terms of his interpretions have a valid reason behind.

In the case of Handel's Messiah the softer tone of the period instruments and the marvellous and small choir is a conscious choice not an omision, a mistake or a lack of quality. His view of the work is more spiritual, more deep and devotional than the earthly performances that drown the market(a heritage of the traditional interpretations with symphony orchestras and large choirs that makes this music lose their inner faith). The contrast beetwen this two conceptions of the piece is remarkable, that's why many listeners familiar with the normal type of performance can't appreciate the merit and value of this recording. Another great recordings historically informed are those of: René Jacobs, William Christie, Mark Minkowski, Masaaki Suzuki.

The group has tapped into the spirit of the piece very well in many of the movements, but at least three of the most emotionally charged movements were mishandled, both in terms of voicing and pace. I recommend this recording for study purposes, but point to the Telarc recording as remaining the gold standard.

--AK