Customer Reviews

Handel, arranged by Mozart: Messiah

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

 

 

This recording of Messiah is interesting in the fact that One.

It is "Messiah" as arrainged by W.A. Mozart. 2. It is sung

in German, which does not take anything away from the beauty

of the work. 3. You have soloists and chorus and Orchestra under

a younger Sir Charles Mackerras. As recordings of "Messiah" go

this is actually one of the lovliest ones of the "traditional"

performances available. Once you can get used to hearing this

work in German you realize that the soloists are doing a great

job singing, the chorus delivers wonderful performances and the

Orchestra also delivers. You might be wondering why Mozart got

with "Messiah" . It was a commissison by the

Baron Van Swieten, who wanted the people of Vienna to hear the

work, so he had the libretto translated into German and had

Mozart arrainge the music so the musicians of Vienna could play

it. One of Mozarts best ideas in this work is to have the start

of some of the big choruses Like "For Unto Us a Child is born"

sung by the soloists, who are then joined by the choir. This

works to great effect, also Mozart added some wind sections to

it. This is I think one of the best recordings of the Mozart

arraingement.

Mozart adding his taste to Handel's Messiah was most interesting to listen to. His addition of wood winds playing under the strings really gave you the feel of Mozart. There was a movement that for a moment I thought for a split second that I was listening to THE MAGIC FLUTE. The slight manipulation of notes to fit the german language was nothing different than a soloist adding notes to make thier aria more dramatic. I was totally moved by the alto's rendition of HE WAS DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN. The aria plays on of nearly 12 minutes. Yet I did not want it to end. Many of the movements I found to be very slow in tempo, but that did not bother me. 1 star was lost though because I was sad to hear my favorite movement, "THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND", the flowing trumpet solo was cut, and replaced with a french horn. How can you sing about Gabriel's trumpet without the trumpet? Just a question I will have to ask Heir Mozart when I meet him in the hereafter. All in all, a most enjoyable CD.

The performance also excels.

The score had been re-arranged, some of the original instruments used in Handel's time not being available to the Viennese at the time of Mozart. For instance, the trumpet parts had to be substituted by horns, so "The Trumpet shall Sound" sounds very different from the original Handel arrangement.

Certain arias were also re-arranged, either shortened or cut or sung by different voices. In conclusion, the score is significantly shorter than the original Handel version.

The baroque grandiose effect having been shorn somewhat by substitutions of classical instruments, the vocalists were left with actually more work than the original set up. Here we have a splendid ensemble directed by Mackerras, with top-notch singers headed by Adam, Schreier, Mathis. All are terrific baroque interpretors. The full religious sense and up-lifting spirituality are being fully realised. Theo Adam is one of the best bass bartione voices for the Messiah (the other being Donald McIntyre, in his recording for Karl Richter). His arias are powerful, dramatic and uplifting. Peter Schreier is without doubt the best tenor ever to grace the arias of this great oratorio in German. Edith Mathis sings the soprano parts with such zeal and conviction that lifts this performance from the purely artistic level to a religious level.

In his essay accompanying these discs, Andreas Holschneider notes that Mozart's arrangement of The Messiah "dates from less than half a century of the composition itself". He goes on to say that "between the generations of Handel and Mozart lay one of the great stylistic revolutions of musical history". Thanks to Mozart's efforts, Handel's great work lives on both sides of the temporal divide. These are blazing and beautiful performances; the singers never less than excellent, and often inspired; the orchestra reaching for the Baroque sound-world even as it reflects our own; the conductor a model of stateliness and spirituality. The 1974 sound was everything that could be desired, and is here perfectly transferred. I wish Mozart had set the English text, but only because I love the idea of Mozart setting English. The German text sits very well on the music, and the nonpareil quality of these German-language singers is an indispensable gain. Is this the best of all Messiahs? Who knows? Who cares? It's one for the ages; and is offered here at lovely prices.