Customer Reviews

Handel - Messiah / Nelson, Kirkby, Watkinson, Elliott, Thomas, AAM, Hogwood

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It surprises many people to learn that there is no definitive version of Handel's "Messiah". Everyone knows the version they heard growing up, or the version they sang when they were younger. However, the scholar trying to put together an historically informed performance of this most important work is faced with many choices and even more questions. Do you use the score he wrote in 1741 but never performed, or the adaptations he made for the Dublin premier. Or maybe you want the version used for the London premier in 1743. If you do, you also have to reconcile that with the reality that Handel later abandoned these additions and changes. While the work settled into a more less standard form in the 1750s, Handel still made changes based upon the singers and players available. These are just the beginnings of the alternatives the scholar has to consider.

This performance attempts to recreate a specific performance of the work by Handel in the 5 April and repeated on 15 May in 1754. The wonderful notes included with this recording fully explain what this choice means and provides insight into each of the pieces as well as the text in German and French as well as English.

This recording was done in 1980 and the notes say it is the first complete historically informed recording. This was a time of great experimentation and thought about early music, and especially the Baroque. We did a performance of the complete Messiah here in Ann Arbor in December of 1980 that too on a great number of these same issues. We also were fortunate to have Emma Kirkby sing here (she was absolutely wonderful) as well as other fine soloists. We did a recording of part of the work and was well regarded in its time. This recording also makes interesting choices about the composition of the chorus and the vocal style of the soloists.

The chorus is the Choir of Christ Church Oxford and uses mostly boy trebles and altos and young men for the tenors and basses. They sing with great clarity and while they may not provide the massive sound some might wish for, I found the straight voices quite wonderful in the very high registers where voices with vibrato might smear or the timbre might become a bit of a shriek. This is the composition of the choir Handel used for this performance, so it is authentic. However, it is also not the only kind of choir he used in the performances of this work. I enjoyed this sound very much. They also pull off quite powerful effects in the "Hallelujah Chorus" and "Worthy is the Lamb".

The soloists also use a much different vocal production style than you might expect. Remember, Verdi was still more than a century in the future. The big brilliant voices we expect today were not the rule and may not have been invented yet. This smaller voice is most pronounced in the tenor voice of Paul Elliott. He certainly gets all the notes and is very expressive, but his is not the brilliant voice we usually associate with "Ev'ry Valley". Judith Nelson and Emma Kirkby share the duties of the expanded Soprano role in this piece and both are very fine. I admit my personal bias towards Kirkby. Carolyn Watkinson is superb as the alto, and David Thomas is just terrific as the bass and does "The Trumpet Shall Sound" to a turn.

The orchestra is brilliant, tight, and a constant delight in this piece. Just to hear them in all their varied approaches to the texts of these pieces is worth the hearing of this disk.
Now, this will likely not be the "Messiah" you grew up with nor what you expect when you hear this work. I urge you to expand your palette. There is no "right" way to play a work. Yes, there are lots of wrong ways, but this is not one of those. One of the problems listeners have is getting too settled on the recording of the work they happen to have. This is always a mistake. No single approach is enough for any fine work let alone one of the cultural and artistic magnitude of "Messiah".

The other source of mistaken fixation is the version you grew up with or heard as an impressionable youth. Again, I urge you to re-open your approach to musical taste and sample this work and see if you can appreciate all the fineness this recording has to offer.

If you do, you will not only be better off because your ability to appreciate music will have expanded, but you will take fresh ears back to your favorite version and hear in it new delights and be doubly rewarded.

On many versions of Messiah available on CD, the choir is wonderful but the soloists' performances seem lacking. Either the diction is poor, they can't seem to handle the demands of the long runs this music calls for, or they approach the music the same as they would a Wagnerian Opera. Not the case here. Each solo is sung with a perfect combination of technical accuracy and emotion that will knock your socks off. David Thomas is simply stunning. You won't be skipping over any solos on this album, and the chorus and orchestra are perfect. Still as fresh as the day it was released. The standard by which other versions will be compared.

In all my years of listening to classical music, I cannot recall coming across a more complete recording. Maestro Hogwood, along with all the performers on this recording, has given the world the most wonderful of interpretations of the "Grand Master" of all choral music. From the authentic instrumentation to the boys of the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, I actually felt like I had travelled back in time to April 5th, in the year 1754 at the Covent Garden Theatre, in London, for its inaugural peformance. If you are looking for sheer beauty and the intellect of an original score from 250 years ago, this is the one recording you must have...What an appropriate rememberance for its subject - Our Lord and Savior!

It's hard to believe that this recording is now 25 years old, and it still sounds as fresh and as amazing as the day it was released. Hogwood and the AAM have been known to produce some dull and lacklustre recordings in the past--stay away, if you can, from their limp Brandenburg Concertos, or their workmanlike but unexciting Vivaldi recordings--but for some reason Handel and the AAM are made for each other. Their versions of the Water Music and the Fireworks Music are sprightly and delightful; Hogwood's version of the Op. 6 Concerti Grossi with the Handel & Haydn Society is equally lively. But this 1980 Messiah tops them all; nothing, not even their magnificent Mozart Symphonies set, comes close to the brilliance of this whole performance. The soloists are first-rate (Emma Kirkby is not the main soprano here, but her rendition of "But who may abide"--often given to basses in other versions--will cause the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up every time you hear it), the choir is expressive and note-perfect as only an English choir can be, and the AAM play with real passion for this great cultural treasure.

Although this is an unusual version of the work--not the 1742 Dublin version that forms the basis for most modern versions, but a special version dating from 1754, for which complete performance records survive--it conveys better than any other version the greatness and the listenability of Handel's masterpiece. Next time you hear your local community orchestra scrape through highlights of what unfortunately has become a holiday bonbon, go home, put on this recording, and be prepared to hear Messiah anew all over again.

I was trying to think if there was anything I did not like about this performance of the Messiah, but could not come up with anything. Hogwood paid such attention to details, doing his utmost to re-create all that was there in the original performance of the work 250 years ago. The instuments are authentic; the interpretation, while emotional enough to convey the theme properly, is light enough so as to put it way above other interpretations that suffer from the heaviness of too much romanticism; the selection of soloists is extremely successful. Emma Kirkby's soprano, for example, is so vibrant and pure that it can stir feelings even in a wooden statue. Carolyn Watkinson voice is also superb. I have had this version of years, heard it countless times and cannot get board with it. It's a must for every lover of the Messiah.

Having sung Handel's Messiah I don't know how many times, I had tired of it and the recordings I know. Large choirs and orchestras, soloists with large vibratos didn't do the piece justice in my opinion.

And then I uncovered this recording and Messiah came alive for me in a new way. Each of the soloists are superb, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford light are airy, and Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music delicious!

Using the Foundling Hospital version of 1754, the range of the arias are just right for these singers and their embleshments subtly creative. This is the recording for me and I hope for you!

Christopher Hogwood/Academy of Ancient Music was my first compact disc MESSIAH (1986) and I still love it nearly 20 years later. Hogwood and forces recorded this most famous of Handel's oratorios in 1980, and used the Choir of Westminster Abbey, where boys replace women for the soprano and alto parts. The AAM plays with a full sound, and provide expert accompaniment and leadership where needed in different arias and choruses. Hogwood keeps a feeling of light and freshness to the choruses, reserving trumpets and timpani for the big choruses, "Hallelujah" and "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain."

My first exposure to "Messiah" was from 3 different LP recordings in the early 1970s: Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra (RCA), Bernstein/New York (Columbia) and Ormandy/Philadelphia (Columbia). All 3 of these are different enough to tell me Handel could be performed by all different forces and still work. But Hogwood, (closest to Shaw of the 3 above) with chamber like textures is most true to Handel's music. Although I am not indifferent to Baroque music played on modern instruments or even by a full orchestra, a work like Messiah seems to work better with a chamber orchestra. Comparing Hogwood, Shaw, Bernstein and Ormandy is like comparing oranges, apples, bananas, and watermelons - they are very different to make comparisons difficult.

Hogwood's MESSIAH was the first major period instrument recording of the piece. John Eliot Gardiner followed (1982, Philips) and later Trevor Pinnock (1990, DG Archiv) with different sized orchestras and choruses, varied ideas about the music. Hogwood's soloists are all excellent, and he uses 2 different sopranos in the recitatives and arias, with differing voice colors and expression.

There is a feeling of rightness about Hogwood's MESSIAH. The choruses are not delicate, but they are not huge either: this will not blast you out of the room. With so much going for it, I believe this MESSIAH will be in the catalog for years to come, alongside many other versions by Gardiner, Pinnock (period instruments), Andrew Davis/Toronto Symphony (EMI - big orchestra and choir), Colin Davis/London Symphony (Philips DUO),
and (my favorite modern instruments version) Neville Marriner/Academy of St. Martin in the fields (Decca, 1976, "Double Decca" series.

There are some 59 editions of the Messiah to chose from at present. So, where's a guy to start? The usual distinction made is between "original" or "modern" instruments (or to be more specific "Historically Informed Performance" or HIP versus "Modern Performance.") There are plenty to chose from in either camp. But the distinction is less clear than one might think. Several "modern" editions are done with smaller baroque-style orchestras and choirs. If done correctly, these can sound very HIP. A good example of a modern version with a baroque era touch is Solti's. If you prefer a big orchestra and big choir, check out Malcom Sargent's classic account, a splendid achievement.

But very few renditions of any type use a boy's choir. Handel often did and thus, so does Hogwood. The only other performance that I know does likewise is that by Roy Goodman's Brandenburg Consort with the King's College Choir conducted by Stephen Cleobury. (Also available on DVD.) A good boys choir versus a good adult choir is like comparing a clarinet and a tuba. Neither are good or bad per se, but they are REALLY DIFFERENT. Handel used both; Bach used boys in, I believe, all of his religious works. There was a reason that baroque composers liked boys for religious works. The equation of youth and innocense is old in Christianity. And then there's the sound. What a boys chorus lacks in depth and power, it makes up for in an almost angelic purity (except when they miss a note, which happens pretty often.)In a nutshell, this means you've got 57 versions that highlight grown-ups, and Hogwood's that employs little gents. The Messiah is a splendid work and well worth owning multiple copies of. Make one Hogwood's - that's where the boys are. And they sound terrific. It doesn't hurt that they're backed up by the Academy of Ancient Music firing on all cylinders. (BTW: the best HIP performance without boys is by Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan: presently unavailable on Amazon, but obtainable on ArchivMusic.com. Despite it's Asian origin, this is probably the most overtly spiritual renditions available: except for maybe for Hogwood's. The musicianship is amazing.)

This disc was first released many years ago, and I purchased it soon after buying my first compact disc player. The performance and sound is absolutely stunning. I have several discs that contain both orchestra and choir, and often the combination of forces can sound overwhelming and muddied. Not here! The clarity of sound is remarkable, particularly when it does not sacrifice warm ambience. Indeed, one can here the echoes of sound at the conclusion of a piece, but such reverberation never interferes with the performance. Particular mention goes to Emma Kikby, whose voice is as pure, sweet, and strong, as any I have heard. Handel's Messiah was perhaps about the fifth disc I ever bought. Three hundered disks later, it remains my favorite.

I must admit straight off to a little bias regarding this recording. One of the performers was one of my favourite professors in college. His name is Nicholas McGegan (harpsichord in this recording), and he later went on to record his own interpretation of Messiah with his much aclaimed Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, which is available on the Harmonia Mundi label. That recording is also worth a listen as it contains a number of alternate scorings, voicings, arias and recititives. If you have a programmable CD player it is possible to recreate just about any of the historic performances that took place during Handel's lifetime.

But without further digression I shall continue discussing the album at hand. In terms of musicality this must certainly be one of the best recordings of Messiah on the market today. It has definitely stood the test of time, as the original recording was performed in the 1980's. Even so, it is as vibrant and enjoyable a recording now as it was then.

The Academy's phrasing is particularly delightful. Notes and phrases are shaped rather than being played in a linear fashion with lots of vibrato as is the case with many modern interpretations. This makes the otherwise mechanical "sewing machine-like" Baroque writing sound quite lyrical and expressive.

The forces used are much smaller than those commonly used for Messiah performances these days, and the more muted sounds of the period instruments combined with the boy's choir give this performance a light airy quality not usually associated with modern performances of the piece. The work is weighty by it's nature and does not need gigantic numbers in order for it to be effective. The result is clarity where many other recordings may sound a bit muddy.

The size of the orchestra and the choir used were based on Christopher Hogwood's research into the numbers of performers used in Handel's own performances of the piece. At the very least it must be said that this recording produces a sound closer to that which the composer originally inteded it to be. Some people question the techniques used in performing, suggesting that they may not have been what audiences of the time were hearing, but it must be said that at the very least the size of the orchestra and chorus, along with the sound of the old instruments versus new ones must be much closer to the original sound than those generally in use today.

For example, Baroque period violins are quite different from their modern counterparts. The old violins have strings made out of cat gut, whereas the strings on modern violins are usually either gut rapped with metal, or perlon rapped with mettle, with the exception of the E string which is entirely made of metal. Because gut alone is not as strong as the metal strings, not as much tension could be put on them. This lowered the pitch level (a modern A is 440 cycles/second, whilst the A of 1720 was closer to 414 or 416), and makes for a much less bright tone. Other differences in the old instruments which change the sound and also reduce the tension on the strings are that the finger boards have a lower incline and the bridges are usually cut lower. The finger boards were generally a little more flat, as was the bridge and the tailpiece. Chin and shoulder rests were almost never used. The bows were also different in that there was no standard length, and that instead of being square at the point were quite pointed, giving the bows a strong taper from frog (area where the bow is held) to the tip. Modern bows are usually made of pernambuco, whereas the old bows, though sometimes made of pernambuco, were also made of other woods such as snakewood, teek, and others. All of this put together results in a different sound, yet one which is very pleasing when used with music of the time.

A lot of research went into this recording, and it is well to note that each member of the Academy in addition to being first rate performers are also top of the line music researchers and scholars. The result is that the performance is not only a high quality performance, but is also a very well informed performance.

The bottom line is that in addition to getting a scholarly work which was very well researched, you also get a performance and interpretation which is sure to delight, and which you will play over and over again simply for the joy of listening to it. If you are wanting to purchase only one copy of Messiah, this should be one of the top contenders. If I were to have only one, this would be the one I would choose for myself.