Handel - Messiah / Ameling · A. Reynolds · Langridge · Howell · Marriner

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Neville Marriner's 1976 account of the Covent Garden version of the score (1743), with the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and soloists Elly Ameling, Anna Reynolds, Philip Langridge, and Gwynne Howell, is positively plush-sounding but nicely animated. I'd love to have this kind of string tone for, say, the Dvorák Serenade, but for Handel it may be just a bit much. --Ted Libbey

Tracks:

Messiah: No 1 Symphony
Messiah: Nos 2/3 Recitative & Air Tenor. Comfort ye my people... Every valley shall be exalted
Messiah: No 4 Chorus: And the glory of the Lord
Messiah: Nos 5 - 6 Recitative & Air bass: Thus saith the Lord... But who may abide
Messiah: No 7 Chorus: And he shall purify
Messiah: Nos 8 - 9 Recitative & Air alto & Chorus: Behold, a virgin shall conceive... O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
Messiah: Nos 10-11 Recitative & Air bass: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth... The people that walked in darkness
Messiah: No 12 Chorus: For unto us a child is born
Messiah: No 13 Pifa
Messiah: Nos 14 - 16 Recitative soprano: There were sheperds, abiding in the field... And lo! the angel of the Lord come upon them... And the angel said unto them... And suddenly there was with the angel
Messiah: No 17 Chorus: Glory to God in the highest
Messiah: No 18 Air soprano: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
Messiah: Nos 19 - 20 Recitative and Aria alto: Then shall the eyes... He shall feed his flock
Messiah: No 21 Chorus: His yoke is easy
Messiah: No 22 Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God
Messiah: No 23 Air alto: He was despised

Tracks:

Messiah: No. 24 Chorus: Surely he hath borne our griefs
Messiah: No. 25 Chorus: And with his stripes
Messiah: No. 26 Chorus: All we like sheep
Messiah: Nos. 27 - 28 Recitative tenor & Chorus: All they that see him... He trusted in God
Messiah: Nos. 29 - 30 Recitative & Arioso soprano: Thy rebuke hath broken his heart... Behold and see
Messiah: Nos. 31 - 32 Recitative & Air tenor: He was cut off out of the land of the living... But thou didst not leave his soul in hell
Messiah: No. 33 Chorus: Lift up your heads
Messiah: Nos. 34 - 35 Recitative tenor & Chorus: Unto which of the angels... Let all the angels of God worship him
Messiah: No. 36 Air bass: Thou art gone up on high
Messiah: No. 37 Chorus: The Lord gave the word
Messiah: No. 38 Duet soprano & alto, chorus: How beatiful are the feet... Break forth into joy
Messiah: No. 39 Arioso tenor: Their sound is gone out
Messiah: Nos. 40 - 41 Air bass & Chorus: Why do the nations so furiously rage together... Let us break their bonds
Messiah: Nos. 42 - 43 Recitative & Air tenor: He that dwelleth in heaven... Thou shalt break them
Messiah: No. 44 Chorus: Hallelujah
Messiah: No. 45 Air soprano: I Know that my Redeemer liveth
Messiah: No. 46 Chorus: Since by man came death
Messiah: Nos. 47 - 48 Recitative & Air bass: Behold, I tell you a mystery... The trumpet shall sound
Messiah: No. 49 - 51 Recitative alto, Duet alto & tenor, Chorus: Then shall be brougt to pass... O Death, where is thy sting... But thanks be to God
Messiah: No. 52 Air alto: If God be for us
Messiah: No. 53 Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb... Amen

Amazon.com

Neville Marriner's 1976 account of the Covent Garden version of the score (1743), with the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and soloists Elly Ameling, Anna Reynolds, Philip Langridge, and Gwynne Howell, is positively plush-sounding but nicely animated. I'd love to have this kind of string tone for, say, the Dvorák Serenade, but for Handel it may be just a bit much. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

stellar performance - except for alto.......2007-04-06

Sir Marriner delivers once again in this authentic version of Messiah. Recording sounds great, except I find myself skipping to the next chapter whenever the alto is singing.. where did they find this tone-deaf alto? (Primary reason for 4 stars) Otherwise, no complaints.

Totally Inspired.......2007-01-10

Listening to this rendition of the Messiah will cause you to believe in God even if you didn't before -- what else but divine inspiration could create this sound?

A "New" Messiah.......2007-01-10

This is a great recording if you're looking for something different than the old standby version we all grew up with. Especially interesting are the solos, which are different versions Handel actually wrote. Great job by all the musicians.

The scholar's "Messiah".......2007-01-03

I am so pleased I purchased this recording. There is a plethora of choices when it comes to "Messiah" recordings, and this one is especially interesting to scholars of music history, professional or otherwise. Some of the arias are obviously not the ones you normally hear in concert today, and the liner notes offer a well-written explanation for the changes. The quality of the recording is excellent. The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-fields is always a spot-on ensemble and the singers are excellently trained. My only complaint (and it is particularly nit-picky at that) is the occasional intonation problem in the soprano section of the chorus. But really, it doesn't detract.

A good reading, but be prepared for its thick textures.......2006-12-17

by 1976 the period performance movement was just getting ready to pounce, but once it did (with Gogwood's 1980 Messiah) Marriern's style became outmoded. He employs lots of strings using lots of vibrato. His solists are in the plummy oratorio style familiar form countless English choral festivals. His tempos are staid--a comparative term, since by the standards of the Huddersfield Choral Society of yore, Marriner skips like a bunny rabbit.

In short, this is a mid-sized Messiah that's neitehr fish nor fowl, but if you prefer the traditiona, churchy way of doing this masterpiece, Marriner is lighter than, say, Boult, Sargent, or Beecham. Among the soloists, Ameling is sweet-sounding but has no sense of the words or mood of her arias. Anna Reynolds is quite fine, as is Langridge in a tepid, oratorio-on-a-Sunday way. I find Howells too operatic and hollow for the bass arias, however. My one real caveat, however, is the chorus, which sounds muffled and distant, and copared to more recent choruses, not as technically alert.

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