Our Review
Just four little minutes. Handel's Messiah covers well over two hours of music (on 2 CDs), and I am talking here about something that occupies less than four minutes of time, under 3% of the overall production. After all, most folks are not that familiar with the Messiah in its entirety, but know plenty about those four shining minutes when the holidays roll around. Why? Because the Hallelujah Chorus, track 44 out of 54 cuts, artfully expresses the explosive joy associated with Christmas. The slim selection is so darn inspirational and uplifting that it could be the best four minutes of your entire year!
With ingredients this fine, you know the recipe has to be good. You start with outstanding performers like the Choir of Clare College (33 voices; Timothy Brown, directing) and Freiburger Barockorchester (28 players), then add world-renowned Belgian counter-tenor and conductor René Jacobs, who directs the entire project, and you begin to smell success. The recording is on the Harmonia Mundi label, which is always excellent news, and the production values are accordingly superb, from the flawless sound quality to the killer packaging, complete with great graphics and an enormous liner booklet.
And the content? Handel's Messiah has been recorded many times; in fact, it was often presented even during Handel's lifetime. He made adjustments in the piece to suit the available singers, and for this 1750 version, Handel ramped up the vocal line with gorgeous results. Jacobs leads a superb reading of the score; the reading is secular with a swift tempo and bright attack. In particular, on our infamous four minutes, the Hallelujah Chorus presents tremendous depth and contrast, showing choral swelling and diminishing to impressive effect.
Got four minutes to improve your holiday season? Hallelujah! Get Handel's Messiah under the direction of René Jacobs.
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2007)
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From the liner notes:
Georg Friedrich Haendel: Messiah
An Oratorio HWV 56 after Biblical sources
collected by Charles Jennens
1750 version (conducted by the composer)
Kerstin Avemo, soprano
Patricia Bardon, alto
Lawrence Zazzo, counter-tenor
Kobie van Rensburg, tenor
Neal Davies, bass
The Choir of Clare College
Freiburger Barockorchester
Rene Jacobs, conductor
The paradoxes of Messiah:
After a magisterial interpretation of the highly theatrical Saul (Editor's Choice in Gramophone, 'Choc' du Monde de la Musique, etc.), René Jacobs now turns his attention to Messiah, in the 1750 version with two alto soloists. Handel subjected the work to multiple revisions according to the solo singers he had available for his annual performances of it in London. However, this public acknowledgment of the work's value came only some years after the oratorio's triumphant premiere in Dublin on 13 April 1742: in order to win over London audiences Messiah had had to confront a cabal that was all the more unjustified in that Handel avoided all dramatisation of the person and Passion of Christ - the exact opposite of Saul, in a sense. But history has amply made up for lost time since then!
Rene Jacobs, Conductor
Messiah
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Artist site
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 138 minutes
Genre: Classical
Release: 2006
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| Sinfony |
| Comfort ye, my people, saith your God "Accompagnato" |
| Every vall shall be exalted "Air" |
| And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed "Chorus" |
| Thus saith the Lord of Hosts "Accompagnato" |
| But who may abide the day of His coming? "Air" |
| And He shall purify the sons of Levi "Chorus" |
| Behold, a virgin shall conceive "Recitative" |
| O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, arise "Air" & "Chorus" |
| For behold, darkness shall cover the earth "Accompagnato" |
| The people that walked in darkness "Air" |
| For unto us a child is born "Chorus" |
| Sinfonia pastorale |
| There were shepherd abiding in the field "Recitative"/And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them "Accompagnato" |
| And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold "Recitative" |
| And suddenly there was with the angel "Accompagnato" |
| Glory to God in the highest "Chorus" |
| Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion "Air" |
| Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened "Recitative" |
| He shall feed His flock like a shepherd "Air" |
| His yoke is easy, and His burthen is light "Chorus" |
| Behold the lamb of God "Chorus" |
| He was despised and rejected of men "Air" |
| Surely He Hath borne our griefs "Chorus" |
| And with His stripes we are healed "Chorus" |
| All we like sheep have gone stray "Chorus" |
| All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn "Accompagnato" |
| He trusted in God that He would deliver Him "Chorus" |
| Thy rebuke hath broken His heart "Accompagnato" |
| Behold and see if there be any sorrow "Arioso" |
| He was cut off out of the land of the living "Accompagnato" |
| But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell "Air" |
| Lift up your heads, O ye gates "Chorus" |
| Unto which of the angels said He at any time "Recitative" |
| Let all the angels of God worship Him "Chorus" |
| Thou art gone up on high "Air" |
| The Lord gave the world "Chorus" |
| How beautiful are the feet of them "Air" |
| Their sound is gone out into all lands "Chorus" |
| Why do the nations so furiously rage together "Air" |
| Let us break their bonds asunder "Chorus" |
| He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn "Recitative" |
| Though shalt break them with a rod of iron "Air" |
| Hallelujah! "Chorus" |
| I know that my redeemeer liveth "Air" |
| Since by man came death "Chorus" |
| Behold, I tell you a mystery "Accompagnato" |
| The trumpet shall sound "Air" |
| Then shall be brought "Recitative" |
| O Death, where is thy sting? "Duet" |
| But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory "Chorus" |
| If God be for us, who can be against us? "Air" |
| Worthy is the Lamb that was slain "Chorus" |
| Amen "Chorus" |