Handel: Messiah

We are dealing perhaps with one of the 5 greatest works of all History,nevertheless we should always be aware of rankings whatsoever. There is no and never will be a perfect Messiah. This wonderful composition has been contaminated by several fashions and historical prejudices, both from grandiloquent taste and from economic "authentic-original" forces. We have had thousand interpreters at past British festivals, as well as colossal recordings by Beecham and Sargent. So we can also find some grandeur even in Christophers version, with more or less 40 interpreters,meaning choir and orchestra together. I would never be surprised should we hear a Messiah with string quartet and voice quatuor. We have such a thing with Haydn's Seven Last Words and, since the music is very good, result is never very bad. Well, Marriner is not a flawless conductor, however his staff gets a medium range between an octet and an "army".Female voices, among whom I include lovely countertenor M Chance(no prejudice) at a reasonable share of alto arias, are very good. Robert LLoyd is an icon with good versatility, who has sung even Boris Godunov in Russian. I liked his Handelian arias. Anne S. van Otter is always a goddess .At many recordings, however, uneven cast is the problem. It s said Hans von Buellow , first son in law to Liszt,and Wagner s "rival" towards Cosima, stated "Tenor is not a voice, but a sickness". Well, in Messiah, tenor arias are not many. J Hadley voice is beautiful,correct, smooth,pleasant, but tasteless, harmless and inexpressive. Would it be an illness or a curse?Flavio J. MorschSanta Cruz do Sul, Brazil

Having sung and conducted Messiah numerous times over my 35-year career as a choral professional, I find very little lacking in this fine recording of Messiah as conceived and conducted by Sir Neville Marriner with his Academy of St. Martin in the Fields orchestra and chorus in 1992. It is not difficult today to find Messiah recorded on period instruments, but to find a viable performance recorded on modern instruments in a convincing Baroque style is another matter. This recording accomplishes that very thing. The proportion of chorus to orchestra is excellent, the tempi and articulation are vigorous and appropriate for the various musical textures, and the many improvisations required of Baroque interpretation are tasteful and convincing. Marriner’s orchestra is honed to near perfection in this live performance, with transitions between movements and the immediate adjustment to changing tempi clear and consistent. The chorus is outstanding, singing with authority and clarity throughout the work. The soloists each bring their uniquely beautiful sound and character to this recording, with distinguished performances by Sylvia McNair and Michael Chance, in particular, though all five are excellent in their own way. Even the choice of organ or harpsichord for the continuo realization imparts uncommon value to this improvisational aspect of the score. Handel may have composed Messiah in three weeks, but this performance definitely wasn't prepared in three weeks. Rather, it bears witness to immeasurable hours of preparation on the part of all participants. As modern audiences become more attuned to Baroque performance practice in performances of Messiah, I can recommend this one without reservation as exceptional among the myriad of recordings available to the listener today.

A major problem with Amazon's listing of classical videos is that they don't tell you who the performers are. This makes a rational buying decision impossible. You can't even get a large image of the box to tell who it is. So I'm writing this review as a public service since I can recognize the box (similar to the CD) as being the second Marriner recording. It hasSylvia McNair, sopranoAnne Sofie von Otter, mezzoMichael Chance, countertenorJerry Hadley, tenorRobert Lloyd, bass.St. Martin in the Fields Orch and Chorus.Musically, this is a better performance than most. von Otter is particularly fine in "He was Despised", and trumpeter Mark Bennett does the best Messiah trumpeting ever recorded, bar none. Many of the choruses are well done, and Chance is good if you like countertenors. Hadley is out of his element. Lloyd and McNair are mid-pack.Can't comment on the video direction since I haven't seen the video yet. But based on the CD I will get it.

Handel's Messiah is just about my absolute favorite music at the Christmas season. Because high-quality performances are not presented in my area every year, I was very pleased to find this superb DVD recording available through amazon.com. In my estimation Handel's composition was highly inspired by the Lord God, one of the most satisfying, deeply stirring and brilliant creations of all musical performances. This recording, although not perfect in every detail, has been marvelously presented. It is particularly gratifying to have this high-quality recording presented in both excellent visual and audible detail, as music is far more enjoyable when the performance can be seen clearly as well as heard. I highly recommend this version to anyone who values Handel's Messiah. If any reader of this review knows of a better DVD version, I will be grateful to have your comment identifying it. Thank you!

Hard to complain over this performance of Handel's Messiah. So what would cause me to buy another version?: 1) Blu-ray quality picture, 2) change of venue perhaps to a world recognized beautiful cathedral, 3) subtitles even though it is in English. I found it difficult to comprehend the words even the soloists, and definitely the chorus. I thought the camera work was fine as was the DTS 5.1 sound quality.

Although this is a good version of the Messiah it is not the best one that I've heard and that honour must go to the 1993 version featuring the King's College Cambridge Choir, conducted by Stephen Cleobury. However, this version features a renowned conductor and orchestra, who with the choir perform well. Among the soloists, I particularly liked the tenor's spirited performance. Although the soprano produced delicate phrasing and some beautiful sounds notes, I found her voice to be a little thin for my taste.

A little gem and as with all recordings done live, there are little idiosyncrasies which make it much more like the real thing.Studio recordings where each bar is gone over ad nauseam can be very pleasing if your super critical but can be very boring in their supposed perfection.Live is always best but as the cost of a ticket to such a prestigious concert would be prohibitive to me together with the cost of travel & accommodation, I prefer to enjoy this as a very affordable second best from the comfort of my own home.Accept it for what it is - the audience who were there really did!

I enjoyed listening to it

I forgot how long ago this TV recording was made! What with HD now and wide format the old recordings are very disappointing. However the music is wonderful, no massed choir but as originally intended. Wish I had bough just the CD if it is available.

I was dubious of the dvd as there are many Messiah's that are very high brow productions. Having sung the Messiah for many years I wanted a version similar to the Huddersfield Choral Society. This DVD met all my expectaions and more, very well produced and performed.