Customer Reviews

Handel: Messiah / Sir Neville Marriner

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Marriner and the Academy have turned out an A+ performance. The quality of the players, the chorus, and the soloists is unmatchable. The interpretations of the movements are also right on. The entire ensemble gels perfectly under the direction of one of the world's best and most recorded conductors. While classical reviewers have pinned the J. E. Gardiner recording as tops, I think they have overlooked this gem.

This performance does for The Messiah what European cathedrals do for churches. The other reviewers are right: "unmatchable ... gem", "wildly entertaining", "treat", "perfect ... blend". But, for me, as when lost in the experience of those vast, ancient, rainbow-lit spaces hewn of massive rock, it is the soaring renditions that take me, entirely beyond earthly cares!

At times it dances delicate as lace caressed by a breeze, resonates in the gut from one of Lloyd's recitatives, or simply leaves one lying breathless and exhausted after a gloriously wrenching chorus.

What God has made through Handel, Sir Neville has made for us. This is not a performance, it is transportation...

(Performed live in Dublin, in 1992, commemorating the 250th anniversary of its first performance.)

This recording ranks itself on the top of the greatest recordings of Handel's Messiah. Being a live recording, it surpasses every other studio recordings of this piece in terms of interpretation and drama. The soloists are superb, the chorus are crisp and vital, and the ensemble plays with great virtuoso. My special remark goes to Miss McNair, I simply cannot grow tired of her! Her lyrical voice is simply destined for this work, especially in aria no 16 `Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion' - rejoice indeed! It is to Marriner we should all be grateful for producing this remarkable recording in the first place. Known mainly for his stupendous recordings of Mozart, it is not surprising that he's able to interpret in a true Handelian way. It's a pity that he seldom records works by Handel - I don't know if he performs them unrecorded.
There are actually two versions of this live performance, the one here and the other is available on LaserDisc. I believe that they were recorded on two different performance time, for on some arias the soloists have different style in singing the cadenza. Whichever you prefer, this is a recording you must simply own - even when your music library boasts a dozen or so of Handel's Messiah!!

A COLLECTIBLE FOR SURE!

The "Messiah" was composed by Handel at his London home in the late summer of 1741..Charles Jennens described his libretto for the 'Messiah' as a "Scripture Collection", because it consists of a cleverly-arranged selection of biblical texts

In his Messiah Handel combines the sheer grandeur and power of his Germanic roots with the color of his Italian experience, joining with the unique flavor of the English language. His music can thus be powerful, like the tenor arioso 'Thou shalt break them with a rod or iron', or it can be colorful and skippy like the wonderful 'For unto us a child is born'. Or it can be stirring and majestic like the 'Hallelujah' and 'Amen' choruses.

Musically speaking, the recitatives and arias are definately in a style derived from opera, supplemented by choruses of the type Handel has developed in his English odes and oratorios-the presentation of the story was unconventional. The work is divided into three acts or parts, but the narrative is largely confined to Part Two: Part One is mainly concerned with prophecy and its fullfilment and Part Three with commentary on the importance of the previous story.

This recording of the famous 1992 performance at Dublin took place at the Point Theatre on the 250th anniversary of the work's premeire which took place in Dublin on April 13th 1742.

It is an outstanding performance, especially chorally and instrumentally. The soloists: Sylvia McNair(soprano)-Anne Sofie von Otter(mezzo)-Michael Chance (alto) were superb!!! Personally I was not pleased by Jerry Hadley's interpretation of Handel; I have a recording of him singing show tunes, and I think he does that best! Robert Lloyd's (bass) diction was most peculiar and annoyed me. However, the last 2 comments may not be universally accepted. All in all, it's one of the best 'Messiahs' I have heard, and is actually my favorite of many that I own.

Even before you listen to an album conducted by Neville Marriner and performed by his impeccable Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, you know you're in for a treat. Not only does Marriner give us a wonderful rendition of this Baroque masterpiece, he uses the orchestra's skill to produce something that is wildly entertaining.

From start to finish, this album keeps you on the edge of your seat. The blend acheived between the chorus and chamber orchestra is perfect. The soloists seem to be tailor made for this work, and whoever sat in the sound booth should have gotten a grammy for his/her ability to make this piece sound as engaging and lively as if you were right there. At no point does the music drag its feet. Listening to this album is like brushing your teeth: when you're done, you feel so refreshed!

I think Handel would have been proud.

I waffled between purchasing this one and the recording by John Eliot Gardiner. I have no doubt they're both excellent, but as I'm already biased in favor of Sir Neville, I bought this one. As the reviewer from New Jersey says, it is definitely an A+ performance, very moving and satisfying.

This is one of the better Messiahs, although not quite up to Westenberg's level.

Its world-beater aspects include mezzo Anne-Sophie von Otter, whose "He was despised" is well north of magnificent: Warmly mournful in the slow sections, snarling and spitting in the center section.

Trumpeter Mark Bennett does by far the best trumpeting on any of my 30 complete Messiahs. "Glory to God" and "Hallelujah" are as good as it gets -- no, better than any other recording gets.

Countertenor Michael Chance is quite good in "If God be for us" -- I say that as someone who doesn't like countertenors.

Some of the other choruses are also well done. But tenor Jerry Hadley seems to have thought he had more lucrative things to do with his time than to think about Messiah.

This is my fifth Messiah disk and I had hoped my last. Von Otter is a real draw and she is truly great. Marriner's pacing is still good. But many aspects of this CD pull it down. I have a theory that the tenor (Jerry Hadley) was mad at Marriner and sang technically perfect with zero emotion. I don't how he was allowed to get away with this. I also did not like the baritone. While I think varying the size of the chorus in this piece has merit, this choir is generally on the small side and does not have the punch when needed. Messiah choirs carry a two edged burden, either the choir is large and it gets muddy in the delicate sections or it is small and can't punch the big sections. This disk errs on the small side. The recording quality is very good, something that dodges many Messiahs. The violins are too close to the soloist microphone (or poorly mixed) and come in much too loud. So whenever there is an sprite from the violins it jumps out at you and drowns the soloists.

The best Messiah for me is still Marriner's 1976 disk, much better overall rendition.

This recording of Messiah, is one of my favorite recordings. I like the rhythmic and meter changes, which are not on the 'standard' recordings of the work. He really did do Handel justice for the 250th anniversary. The soloists are amazing especially Anne Sophie von Ottor and Jerry Hadley. The bass is a bit dark for my liking, but that's because I prefer hearing a Bass-Baritone or Baritone perform the role. This is definitely a must-have for anyone who likes Messiah or has performed it themselves.

While I haven't sampled that many different recordings of the Messiah, I really like this version. I sometimes find myself singing it, and this is the version I hear. One thing I don't like about it is that it is a 2-disc set, but the Messiah has three parts. Part II is divided -- the first half on disc 1 and the second part on disc 2. It would be nice if the parts weren't divided in the middle.