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Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung ("The Creation") recounts Genesis via Milton's Paradise Lost, translated into German and reworked into the finished libretto by the Baron van Swieten. It is an intensely felt masterpiece, Haydn later saying, "I was never so pious as during the time when I was working on The Creation: I fell to my knees daily and asked God to give me the strength for a favorable completion of the work." The music alternates thrilling choral writing with moving solo parts, and bass Rene Pape and soprano Edith Mathis are especially fine. Peter Schreier conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Festival Choir Lucerne in this 1992 performance originally shot for video in an unnamed but beautiful and ornate baroque location. The notes record that at the public premiere in Vienna in 1799, a small book containing van Swieten's libretto was given to each member of the audience "so that ever'body unnerstands what the music wanted t'say." It is ironic that this release contains neither the libretto nor subtitles. This is a musical drama, and the text is vitally important for more than superficial appreciation, such that those unfamiliar with the work may find greater reward in John Eliot Gardiner's 1997 CD version.

The DVD contains a clean, sharp 4:3 ratio transfer from the original video program with minimal evidence of grain. The sound is stereo PCM and generally good, though in some of the more full-blooded passages the recording of the choir is a little constricted and even harsh. There are no extra features of any kind, though being Region 0 the disc will play in any DVD machine. --Gary S. Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk

From the Back Cover
Soprano - Edith Mathis
Tenor - Christoph Pregardien
Bass - Rene Pape

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Festival Choir Lucerne
Conductor - Peter Schreier

Handel - Messiah (250th Anniversary Performance) plus FOR EVER AND EVER, a documentary DVD ~ Sylvia McNair  (11)  $19.97

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   5 of 6 people found the following review helpful: GREAT CREATION -- in Switzerland!, March 20, 2002 By  Joseph L. Ponessa (Glendive MT USA) - See all my reviews    This is a very fine performance, and the sound and picture come across well by DVD standards. I would rather watch this than the Riccardo Muti laserdisc from Salzburg, or the Hogwood laserdisc from Gloucester. (However, I agree with the previous reviewer that the Bernstein laserdisc from Ottobeuren in Bavaria is the very best version on video.) This program is great, but the packagers have failed to tell us the where and the when of the program. After a couple of years of searching I have finally learned that the performance took place at the Jesuit Church in Luzerne, Switzerland.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you?