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Charles Mackerras, English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers - Georg Friedrich Handel: Messiah (1989)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Date: 8 Jul 2023 09:44:01
Charles Mackerras, English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers - Georg Friedrich Handel: Messiah (1989)

Charles Mackerras, English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers - Georg Friedrich Handel: Messiah (1989)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 787 Mb | Total time: 77:30+77:38 | Scans included
Classical | Label: EMI Classics | # 7243 5 69449 2 3 | Recorded: 1966

It was this set which, in company with one from Sir Colin Davis issued by Philips a few weeks earlier, inaugurated the era of 'progressive' Messiah recordings. They had of course been foreshadowed—by Sir Adrian Boult, notably, and by the work of such editors as John Tobin and Watkins Shaw. But this was one of the first to use a chamber orchestra, lively tempos and ornamentation: and between them Davis and Mackerras made us listen afresh to a work whose performance traditions had threatened to become hidebound… The forces aren't 'authentic', but rather larger, and women's voices are used in the chorus. It is however an excellent chorus, well disciplined and clean.
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Halle Orchestra & Choir, Sir John Barbirolli, Soloists - Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 (1999) 2 CDs

Posted By: Designol
Date: 7 Oct 2021 09:02:40
Halle Orchestra & Choir, Sir John Barbirolli, Soloists - Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 (1999) 2 CDs

Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 (1999) 2 CDs
Richard Lewis, tenor; Dame Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano; Kim Borg, bass
Hallé Orchestra & Choir; Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus; Ambrosian Singers;
conducted by Sir John Barbirolli
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 488 Mb | Scans included | Time: 01:38:16
Classical, Choral, Oratorio | Label: EMI | # 7243 5 73579 2 0

'The Dream of Gerontius' is probably Edward Elgar's masterpiece and certainly one of the glories of the English oratorio tradition. A setting of Cardinal Newman's poem about a man's death and the journey of his soul toward heaven, it is one of the most heartwarming affirmations of faith and salvation in all of music and also a work of great intensity and passion, influenced by both Mahler and Italian opera. Several great British conductors have left their mark on 'Gerontius,' but none was more strongly associated with it than Sir John Barbirolli, who directed it many times before making this famous recording, which he regarded as a testament of his own faith, in 1964. While Barbirolli's Halle Orchestra and the combined choirs distinguish themselves mightily, the crowning asset of this vividly dramatic reading is Janet Baker's glowing performance as the Angel, a breath of life which makes an already powerful experience unforgettable.
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