# Your favorite Messiah recording?.....................



## Itullian

So many recordings of this masterpiece.
Which are your favorites?
Thank you


----------



## joen_cph

Karl Richter/DG (the English version, not the one he made in German).


----------



## DavidA

Beecham is wonderfully anti-PC. The Hallelujah chorus is incredible as is Vickers' Thou shalt break them.

The best modern recording although now unavailable wad the Mackerras with Janet Baker et al.

I've got the Pinnock but it's a bit anaemic.


----------



## SixFootScowl

The Dublin Messiah is my absolute favorite. I have this one and it is excellent!









Here is a sample of the Dunedin Consort Dublin Messiah:





Here is a video (albeit, not Messiah) showing the Dunedin Consort in action and showcasing their wonderful bass singer.


----------



## sabrina

Neville Marriner and the Academy St Martin in the Fields


----------



## david johnson

Beecham/Goossens


----------



## Svelte Silhouette

Itullian said:


> So many recordings of this masterpiece.
> Which are your favorites?
> Thank you


Harry Christopher and The sixteen on Hyperion


----------



## SixFootScowl

Svelte Silhouette said:


> Harry Christopher and The sixteen on Hyperion


That would be this one which I also have and I like very much (click image to enlarge):







It is an earlier one by the Sixteen (I think 1993), the bass soloist is very good as are all the singers.
There is a newer Messiah by The Sixteen (2008?) on CORO that I have not heard.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio

William Christie with Barbara Schlick, Sandrine Piau, Andreas School, and Mark Padmore...



















Both marvelous recordings...


----------



## StlukesguildOhio

This was a surprisingly good version of the 1751 version employing boys voices in arias and the choir choruses. Usually I prefer the female voice... but this and the William Christie recording with countertenor Andreas Scholl are probably the two versions I listen to most.










Another brilliant recording.


----------



## PetrB

TallPaul said:


> The Dublin Messiah is my absolute favorite. I have this one and it is excellent!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here is a sample of the Dunedin Consort Dublin Messiah:


Thank you! The last CD I ever loaned out (last because it was not returned  was the Messiah, W. Christie et les Arts Florissants, in a performance as crisp as this, _with the number of performers the work was originally conceived and written for, which makes all the difference in the clarity of what we hear, and the forward momentum of the work._ The Christie even had ornaments in the chorus, tasteful and well-placed, which were as likely as not done during the period.

In this scale of proportion of performers, small choir, smaller orchestra, the work, to me, is still very much alive. Those performances with a "chorus of a thousand" invariably turn to mush, the texture of so much Baroque music never meant to be so thickened with the addition of number of performers doubling all the parts. This performance you've given us a link to sings and dances, and is a real delight.


----------



## Guest

I also have the Higginbotham/Naxos recording, and it is very good. There is another recording that I have greatly enjoyed:








Stephen Layton/Polyphony on Hyperion

This recording is very nice indeed.


----------



## Ukko

Looks like my post in this thread was deleted. Since it was highly innocuous, I must assume that the perpetrator is anti-Ferrier. I didn't realize that was possible.


----------



## GioCar

Gardiner.
Philips


----------



## Wood

Pinnock kkkkkkkkkkk


----------



## SixFootScowl

Wood said:


> Pinnock kkkkkkkkkkk


Ah yes, Pinnock. That is a very good one. My son has that one.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I own two recordings of what seem to be the extremes of both sides of the spectrum:










This is the Dublin version of the score, performed by a choir of 14 and an orchestra of 15. I have tried other HIP versions and I simply cannot even find one that sounds so crystal clear and precise in their execution. Of course, this version is not huge and flashy, but what I really really love the most about this recording are the vocal soloists drawn from the choir. Adrian Peocock was the _perfect_ choice to sing "The people that walked in darkness." Overall, this recording certainly sounds very professional, not overly flashy, but a very precise and very together rendition of the original score. The SINGERS and the CHOIR are simply AWESOME though.










I decided to listen to this one this morning. The proportions choir and orchestra are completely different to the Scholar's Baroque Ensemble recording above, but still extremely enjoyable....apart from the tenor soloist whose voice pretty much just sounds raspy and strained. What I love about this recording is the very simple performance of exactly what's written on the score (Mozart version) that makes it sound not grandiose, but still somewhat exciting. The orchetsra and singers and the entire interpretations itself does sound quite amateurish and at times very inept, but exciting nevertheless. The orchetsra gives a thrilling sound even if they are sometimes out of synch with the singers and with each other. Something that is quite common is unusual and unmusical accents in the string section due to careless bow divisions (rushing to get to one side of the bow when at the other is usually considered poor technique and bad musicality if the note that the rush to the other side occurs on is accented when it isn't supposed to), but really that just adds to the overall not-very-professional feel the overall recording. It's weird, and not always very good musically and technically, but I still love it for that. All I can say is _they tried and it payed off with a ripper of a recording._


----------



## SixFootScowl

Interesting, another Dublin Messiah to check out, and I tend to like the NAXOS recordings. Interesting also that they have the same picture on the cover as the Sixteen's Messiah I posted earlier in this thread.


----------



## SixFootScowl

StlukesguildOhio said:


> This was a surprisingly good version of the 1751 version employing boys voices in arias and the choir choruses. Usually I prefer the female voice... but this and the William Christie recording with countertenor Andreas Scholl are probably the two versions I listen to most.


Ah yes, I have this Higgenbottom Messiah. Very nice. The boys are excellent, but I don't care for male singing alto. I think though that Rejoice is sung by the tenor.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Anybody have this one? What do you think of it? It was my first Messiah, on vinyl back in the 1980s. The soprano is magnificent and part of the reason I chose this recording. I now have it on the pictured CD:








Judith Blegen (Soprano), Katherine Ciesinski (Alto), John Aler (Tenor), John Cheek (Bass Baritone)


----------



## Il_Penseroso

Sir Malcolm Sargent did four great recordings of Messiah. I have the 1959 on both vinyl (Seraphim) and CD (EMI). Not authentic instruments of course, and you'll also find a very few cuts in the last part, but it's still the best I've ever heard:


----------



## Itullian

This one's very good. Modern instruments but slightly HIP informed.
Very good sound.


----------



## Rocco

My absolute favorite Messiah would be Pinnock. It's the first one I've ever heard, and I've yet to find one I like better!


----------



## Bulldog

Martin Pearlman conducting the Boston Baroque/Telarc. It's the most visceral version I've come across; energizes me every time I listen.


----------



## SixFootScowl

I have been going through my Messiah recordings and ordered them in preference based on a few track samplings:
1. Dunedin Consort Dublin Version
2. Pinnock (I don't have this but had it)
3. Westernburg
4. The Sixteen (earlier version)

I don't rate the Higgenbottom as it is very different, being all male choir. It is good but not a mainstay for me. I had the Koopman Messiah but was not that fond of it and gave it away. Ideally I would give up the Sixteen I have and get a Pinnock instead. The Dunedin Consort has the best alto in my opinion probably because she sounds more like a mezosoprano. The best Rejoices are Dunedin Consort and Pinnock, followed by Westenburg. Westenburg has a very deep bass as does Pinnock. I think Pinnock and Westenberg could both be number 2 in my list, though they are different, they both are very good.

Surely there are many other great ones out there but I am not going to go on a quest like i did for Beethoven's Ninth and ended up with 30 Ninths!

I will say that my first test may as well be the alto. Very few altos sit well with me, and that is one of the problems with the Sixteen (they have two a male and a female). The Koopman was a male alto and probably a big reason I didn't like it. Yes, I do get male alto in Chandos Anthems but somehow i tolerate it there, as in the Higgenbottom all male Messiah.


----------



## MozartEarlySymphonies

Bulldog said:


> Martin Pearlman conducting the Boston Baroque/Telarc. It's the most visceral version I've come across; energizes me every time I listen.


Completely agree. Pearlman's definitely my favorite recording.


----------



## SixFootScowl

Well, I just got this new Messiah set and am only about 10 tracks in (did listen to clips before) and can already tell that it will be my favorite alongside my Dublin Messiah.


----------



## SixFootScowl

My latest Messiah recording (very nice too):


----------



## billeames

My favorites are Gardiner, and Davis LSO. Layton Very good too on Hyperion.


----------



## peteAllen

For a glorious, old fashioned, uplifting, rich, life-affirming and well-recorded version, you can't go wrong with Kiri te Kanawa, Solti and the CSO:


----------



## Antiquarian

My favorite Messiah is the one performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chamber Chorus dir. Robert Shaw (Telarc CD-80093) I have the Philadelphia Orchestra & Mormon Tabernacle Choir dir Eugene Ormandy, but play it rarely, if at all now because it is incomplete. Great bits are gone in this one.


----------



## Svelte Silhouette

I like the above a lot but prefer Christophers, Pinnock and Marriner ahead of this and in that order. 

Telarc did such fab digital recordings in the early days of CD.


----------



## PetrB

StlukesguildOhio said:


> William Christie with Barbara Schlick, Sandrine Piau, Andreas School, and Mark Padmore....


Love this performance with the _Les Arts Florissants_ ensemble... the right number of performers, a small chorus, including the added sung ornaments in the chorus here and there, which sounded very right and appropriate. Somehow, these original instrument ensembles with the (original) smaller number of performers sound 'larger and grander' to me than all the recordings using such larger (overblown, imo) forces.


----------



## VanCrusty

My top five Messiah recordings at the moment. The first two were easy picks, the last three could probably be replaced by any one of my 20-something Messiah recordings. There are just so many good ones to choose from and so much variety.









Superbly conducted by Richard Hickox. The orchestra and chorus are both impressively precise. I have sung Messiah (bass), and the runs in All We Like Sheep are fairly tough to perform accurately...this group nails it. Bryn Terfel makes the bass solos an absolute joy to listen to.









A very fun recording, full of life. The soloists are top notch, particularly Soprano Julia Doyle and counter-tenor Iestyn Davies.


----------



## Pugg

​
Alas only highlights but for me; unbeaten :tiphat:


----------



## SixFootScowl

Pugg said:


> ​
> Alas only highlights but for me; unbeaten :tiphat:


You can get the full version, at least Amazon for USA has it here and low priced (3 CD set!).


----------



## Pugg

Florestan said:


> You can get the full version, at least Amazon for USA has it here and low priced (3 CD set!).


Thanks Florestan, a quick look tells me that shipping is more expensive then the item itself.


----------



## Guest

Pugg said:


> Thanks Florestan, a quick look tells me that shipping is more expensive then the item itself.


I am familiar with the problem.


----------



## Guest

I have three recordings and I like them all.


----------

