Handel: Samson

George Frideric Handel (Composer), Raymond Leppard (Conductor), English Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Robert Tear (Performer), Janet Baker (Performer), London Voices (Performer), John Shirley-Quirk (Performer), Benjamin Luxon (Performer), Philip Langridge (Performer), Helen Watts (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Robert Tear, Janet Baker, London Voices, John Shirley-Quirk, Benjamin Luxon, et al.
• Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Raymond Leppard
• Composer: George Frideric Handel
• Audio CD (May 11, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Erato
• ASIN: B000005EA9
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,906 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Sinfonia - English Chamber Orchestra

2. This Day, A Solemn Feast - Robert Tear

3. Awake The Trumpet's Lofty Sound - London Voices

4. Ye Men Of Gaza - Janet Baker

5. Awake The Trumpet's Lofty Sound - London Voices

6. Loud As The Thunder's Awful Voice - Robert Tear

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. For Thee My Dearest Son/It Should Be So - To Expiate My Crime/Be For Thy Fate Contrite/Why Should I Live - John Shirley-Quirk

2. Then Long Eternity Shall Greet Your Bliss - Helen Watts

3. Joys That Are Pure - Helen Watts

4. Then Round About The Starry Throne - London Voices

5. Despair Not Thus!/Where'er The Liquid Brook Or Fountian Flow'd - John Shirley-Quirk

6. Just Are The Way Of God To Man/Trust Yet In God - John Shirley-Quirk

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Put On Your Arms/My Strength Is From The Living God - Robert Tear

2. With Thee!/Cam'st Thou For This - Robert Tear

3. Go, Baffled Coward, Go/Presume Not On Thy God - Robert Tear

4. Here Lies The Proof - Helen Watts

5. Hear, Jacob's God - London Voices

6. Dagon, Arise - Benjamin Luxon

See all 31 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Supreme Handel by a true Handelian, September 29, 1999

By A Customer

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

No offense to the gentleman from Milan who's review follows mine, but there is a GREAT, GREAT deal more to SAMSON than "Let The Bright Seraphim." Judging this important, extensive recording by one aria is as ridiculous and short-sighted as dismissing Lawrence of Arabia or Bridge Over The River Kwai in their entirety because one scene was not as thrilling or masterful as the others. This is sublime Handel with a roster of singers than can hardly be improved upon. Granted this is not a period instrument performance and I, for one, am grateful for that. Personally, I've grown weary of the anemic, metallic sound that is often associated with period instrument ensemble recordings. This recording is, however, relatively a "period" performance in the sense that both orchestra (English Chamber Orchestra) and chorus (London Voices, directed by Terry Edwards) are of moderate size, brilliantly and passionately conducted by a true Baroque authority, the great Raymond Leppard. There is simply no finer recording of this masterpiece currently available and, frankly, I doubt there will be one for some time to come. The Harry Christophers recording on Collins with his ensemble, The Sixteen, is more in keeping with contemporary views and attitudes regarding the performance of baroque music (read authentic, period instrument) and it definitely has it's merits, but it hardly topples Leppard's recording from it's lofty perch. By go the Hanoncourt recording at all costs; it is a dull reading and truncated, to boot.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Supreme Handel by a true Handelian, September 29, 1999

By A Customer

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

This is sublime Handel with a roster of singers than can hardly be improvedupon. Granted this is not a period instrument performance and I, for one, amgrateful for that. Personally, I've grown weary of the anemic, metallic sound that is often associated with period instrument ensemble recordings. This recording is, however, relatively a "period" performance in the sense that both orchestra (English Chamber Orchestra) and chorus (London Voices, directed by Terry Edwards) are of moderate size, brilliantly and passionately conducted by a true Baroque authority, the great Raymond Leppard. There is simply no finer recording of this masterpiece currently available and, frankly, I doubt there will be one for some time to come. The Harry Christophers recording on Collins with his ensemble, The Sixteen, is more in keeping with contemporary views and attitudes regarding the performance of baroque music (read authentic, period instrument) and it definitely has it's merits, but it hardly topples Leppard's recording from it's lofty perch.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Samson - fine composition, dated performance, April 11, 2002

By 

Dr. R. S. Kermeen (CARDIFF., South Glamorgan, Great Britain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

There are not many full-length recordings of this Handel Oratorio out there, and even fewer live performances these days in this irreligious age, so I committed to this version, simply due to the reknown of the performers, people like Tear, Baker, Langridge, Watts, most of whom I had heard perform live in the 70s and 80s. I was not disappointed - under the direction of the incomparable Raymond Leppard, one of my student icons, the work unfolded in glorious procession. Tracing the Old Testament narrative of Samson in more operatic style than Oratorio, Handel makes use of all his mature skills, to treat the ears to a feast of polyphonic sound which will give Baroque afficcionados years of lasting pleasure. The rightly-feted contralto "Return, O God of Hosts," with its never-played choral conclusion will be played many, many times once you have bought this work - you will find yourself singing it to yourself on many occasions. The only reservation I had was that the performance standard is decades old, and some people may find it old-fashioned. That having been taken into consideration, I find myself listening to it every day, and will soon be as familiar with it as I am with "Messiah."