Handel-Messiah-Nikolaus Harnoncourt

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Handel-Messiah-Nikolaus Harnoncourt

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Count on Nikolaus Harnoncourt to challenge convention and revitalize even the best-known repertoire. This 2005 recording of Messiah – the conductor's second of Handel's great oratorio – certainly scores on that account. Those reared on the interpretations of Oxbridge standard bearers like John Eliot Gardiner and Christopher Hogwood may be taken aback at moments: the easygoing tempo of the chorus "For Unto Us a Child Is Born," for instance. Yet Harnoncourt has clearly thought deeply about Messiah, and as dramatic musical storytelling, his version is one of the most compelling in the catalog, especially among those featuring period instruments. Of the four soloists, bass Gerald Finley is the standout star; his "Thus Sayeth the Lord" has the attention-grabbing authority of an old-time revival preacher, and he delivers a hair-raising "The Trumpet Shall Sound" (although the identity of the solo trumpeter – as well as of the other orchestral players – is lamentably omitted from the booklet). For the all-important choruses, Harnoncourt has reexamined Handel's manuscripts and restored rhythmic indications missing in printed editions; the result is a pleasing flexibility in several numbers ("And the Glory of the Lord" in particular). At other points, Handel's clues lead the conductor to pare down the orchestra, sometimes to just one-on-a-part. These enhancements and others – along with Harnocourt's insightful, responsive direction – add up to a Messiah with a difference