# Your favorite recording/performance of Handel's Messiah?



## KevinW

Hello People, 

I am currently listening to tons of different interpretations of Handel's Messiah and I found them to be disparate sometimes. The tempo could be performed very differently (maybe because of the lack of tempo indications by Handel?), and there could be different use of instruments (harpsichord or not, organ or not), the use of the HIP, even the choir (female or children singers?) and many other variabilities. Personally, I like the recordings with HIP and ancient instruments such as organ and a nice-sounding harpsichord. Considering that Messiah is a religious composition, it is better to make it sound more Baroque. The tempo is really not a concern to me because I believe a faster and a slower interpretation both makes sense to me. So which one is your favorite, and why?

KevinW


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## Bulldog

My favorite is Martin Pearlman/Boston Baroque on Telarc - quick and exhilarating.


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## Kreisler jr

- Colin Davis ca. 1966 for a "classic" that despite a few aspects (improvised ornaments) that seem a bit curious nowadays remains very fresh for me.

- McCreesh for a modern "HIP" recording that is not small scale.


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## ORigel

In addition to the recordings above, Trevor Pinnock for an HIP recording that is not too fast.


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## Clairvoyance Enough

The two main ones I listen to now are Dunedin Consort and William Christie's. The former's sound quality is some of the greatest I've ever heard in any recording, and many of its renditions are definitive in my opinion (no other version of He Was Despised needs to exist if you have this one). My only issue is that it's the Dublin edition of the score, which I didn't know existed, and so a few pieces have alterations that I don't like much at all. Overall it's my favorite.

The sound on William Christie's isn't quite as crisp, but I find it the most "perfect" in terms of being faithful. A few things are arguably a bit fast, but in a way that still works and sounds appropriate.

Hogwood's Messiah has quite a bit of awkwardness, but it rivals the Consort recording in terms of crispness and raw energy, so I like to revisit on occasion.

One particular aria that I recommend a specific recording of is Lynne Dawson's Rejoice Greatly. The performance it comes from is quite good, but her version of that is far, far and away the absolute best I have ever heard. It was a track I tended to skip until I heard her version of it.


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## agustis

My favorite by far is from the Academy of Ancient Music. Emma Kirkby was just perfect here. I believe this recording uses period instruments too.

Here is a link to the playlist.


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## SixFootScowl

Bulldog said:


> My favorite is Martin Pearlman/Boston Baroque on Telarc - quick and exhilarating.


That is an excellent performance and among my favorites.


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## Rogerx

SixFootScowl said:


> That is an excellent performance and among my favorites.


I prefer the other one ( Shaw) on Telarc, the finest however stays Andrew Davis with Battle et all .


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## joen_cph

Not HIP, but: 

Karl Richter /DG, the English version (he also made a German one)


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## SixFootScowl

joen_cph said:


> Not HIP, but:
> 
> Karl Richter /DG, the English version (he also made a German one)


Ah yes, I have the German Richter set. Another in German is Koch. It is a fun listen, but not something I would listen to a whole lot.


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## Rogerx

SixFootScowl said:


> Ah yes, *I have the German Richter set*. Another in German is Koch. It is a fun listen, but not something I would listen to a whole lot.


Is that the one with Popp singing so glorious?


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## Kreisler jr

No, Popp must be a on later recording, there is one with Marriner/Stuttgart from the 1980s. The 1960s Richter in German has Janowitz. I don't like it anyway; the soloists are pretty good but the whole thing is stodgy and not very good, IMO.


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## Rogerx

Kreisler jr said:


> No, Popp must be a on later recording, there is one with Marriner/Stuttgart from the 1980s. The 1960s Richter in German has Janowitz. I don't like it anyway; the soloists are pretty good but the whole thing is stodgy and not very good, IMO.


You're right don't you like the Richter or the Marriner?


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## joen_cph

Richter in German, versus Richter in English, are different from each other. 

The English one was also used in a sort of movie, with the complete work as a soundtrack for documentary sequences about people's lives around the globe. This was back in the 70s-80s; unfortunately I don't remember details about who made it.


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## Kreisler jr

Rogerx said:


> You're right don't you like the Richter or the Marriner?


I don't know the (German EMI) Marriner. The mid-1970s Decca/Argo Marriner is very good although quite fast/lean in a pre-HIP fashion and he uses an uncommon edition that can be a bit surprising at times
I don't care for the (German) Richter, except for a few solos, such as Janowitz.  I have not heard the later (English) Richter recording, the German one turned me sufficiently off. It's not that there was a dearth of Messiah recordings...


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## marlow

Hi everyone! 

I’ve been listening to Messiah recordings for ever. A work of stupendous genius. The first one I bought was Mackerras and was considered revolutionary at the time in that it was in Basil Lam’s edition and employed a counter tenor (Paul Esswood) and (then) brisk tempi. It had an incredible ‘He was despised’ by Janet Baker - best ever! Since then with increasing availability of cheap CDs I have many more in my collection, the latest (Emmanuel Haim) costing just 20p from a thrift shop! Terrific versions from Pinnock, Gardiner, McCreesh and Christie all are very special.


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## SixFootScowl

Among my favorites is this unique set:


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## Bruckner Anton

My pick is Karl Richter with LPO on DG (as I am not a big fan of HIP performance).


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## wkasimer

Bruckner Anton said:


> My pick is Karl Richter with LPO on DG (as I am not a big fan of HIP performance).


Great soloists on that set.


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## marlow

Just remembered I have a good one from Hickox too. And Hogwood with Emma Kirkby doing Refiner’s Fire


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## Varick

Karl Richter and John Alldis are my 2 favorites. I only listened to it once so far, but I was underwhelmed by Klemperer's version. I usually regard Otto's sacred works in the top echelon. Perhaps a few more listens will yield more.

V


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## Marc

In 'chronological' order... I love them all.

Colin Davis's 1st Philips recording (1966)

Christopher Hogwood (1980)

Ton Koopman (1983, live)

Trevor Pinnock (1988)

William Christie (1994)

Frieder Bernius (2009)


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## wkasimer

Varick said:


> I only listened to it once so far, but I was underwhelmed by Klemperer's version. I usually regard Otto's sacred works in the top echelon. Perhaps a few more listens will yield more.


Maybe not. Here's what I wrote about it a few years ago on an Amazon review:

"This is a very dark and serious recording of this work. The tempi are a little slower than I'd like, but are not really excessive. The chorus is fine, but the soloists are a pretty unimpressive lot, despite the names. I like Grace Hoffman best of the four - the voice is a bit over-vibrant for this music, but at least her English is idiomatic. So is Jerome Hines', but his delivery is stiff and metronomic. Gedda is simply out of his element here - the voice is nasal in quality and his English sounds phonetic. Schwarzkopf's a little better in that respect, but I simply can't stand the sound of her voice."


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## marlow

wkasimer said:


> Maybe not. Here's what I wrote about it a few years ago on an Amazon review:
> 
> "This is a very dark and serious recording of this work. The tempi are a little slower than I'd like, but are not really excessive. The chorus is fine, but the soloists are a pretty unimpressive lot, despite the names. I like Grace Hoffman best of the four - the voice is a bit over-vibrant for this music, but at least her English is idiomatic. So is Jerome Hines', but his delivery is stiff and metronomic. Gedda is simply out of his element here - the voice is nasal in quality and his English sounds phonetic. Schwarzkopf's a little better in that respect, but I simply can't stand the sound of her voice."


Weighted down with Klemperer's leaden tempi, the whole thing sounds a museum piece. Best it stays there is a relic of a bygone age. If you want an all bells and whistles approach go to Beecham - at least that is fun!


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## MAS

My first choice is the Stephen Cleobury 1994 recording with the Choir of King’s College Cambridge, though I can also appreciate the monumental Beecham, full of excesses. The Pinnock is another favorite for Arleen Auger’s superb assumption and all-around excellence, and the Andrew Davis for Kathleen Battle’s angelic sounds.


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## Monsalvat

I listened to Karl Richter's 1972 recording with the London Philharmonic (in English) this afternoon. The 1964 recording with Richter's own Münchener Bach-Orchester und Chor is sung in German, as others have noted here. It's a monumental-sounding recording; I'm not a huge Messiah fan but I imagine that this is a different direction than a historically-informed interpretation would choose to pursue. The 1964 recording looks better on paper but I haven't heard it; the fact that it is performed in translation might ruffle some feathers, too.


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## SixFootScowl

Just listened to this one today, like it a lot. The operatic voices are wonderful.


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## sAmUiLc

Solti with Chicago SO on Decca. Solti's unique energy makes this recording surprisingly great. The result is right blend of HIP and traditional approaches.


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## wkasimer

Monsalvat said:


> I listened to Karl Richter's 1972 recording with the London Philharmonic (in English) this afternoon. The 1964 recording with Richter's own Münchener Bach-Orchester und Chor is sung in German, as others have noted here. It's a monumental-sounding recording; I'm not a huge Messiah fan but I imagine that this is a different direction than a historically-informed interpretation would choose to pursue. The 1964 recording looks better on paper but I haven't heard it; the fact that it is performed in translation might ruffle some feathers, too.


Crass is fabulous on the German Richter recording. The language doesn't bother me; one of my favorites is this one, currently selling for virtually nothing on US Amazon:


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## Kreisler jr

The language might be more bothersome when one is German.  There are several translations but the ones I heard are usually slightly confusing to me because of translation and singability they are different from the "standard" (i.e. usually Luther-based) bible verses. I also got to know the piece in English, so it just feels odd to me in German. 
Crass and Janowitz are good, I was not so impressed with the other soloists in the German language Richter and I found the whole thing rather four square and often boringly conducted. It's also slightly abridged (some lesser known arias in part 2 and 3 are cut, I believe, probably to get the whole comfortably onto 3 LPs) but still spread over 3 CDs in the recording I had.


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## Enthusiast

There are a few Messiahs that I like a lot, most of them HIP (I am generally OK with some non-HIP Baroque but not really in the Messiah). I'll choose Harnoncourt's second recording with Christine Schafer, Anna Larsson, Michael Schade and Gerald Finley. I don't know why but I haven't heard his first recording. McCreesh is also a good one.


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## Kreisler jr

McCreesh is a very good and fairly "safe" choice of still "up to date" (late 1990s) HIP with excellent soloists. The first Harnoncourt (1980s with the Ericson choir) is interesting but not a safe choice at all  There are Harnoncourtisms all over the place, at least two of the soloists are not idiomatically pronouncing English (but Lipovsek is quite impressive nevertheless). I'd recommend this one maybe as a third or fourth choice for listeners who want something different.


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## marlow

Try Emmanuelle Harm’s version. Superb soloists.

Of course it’s impossible to give a ‘definite’ version as Handel didn’t have one!


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## eljr

*Release Date:* 28th Oct 2016
*Catalogue No:* CHSA5176
*Label:* Chandos
*Length:* 1 hour 54 minutes










Presto Recording of the Week
2nd December 2016









BBC Music Magazine
January 2017
Choral & Song Choice









Presto Recordings of the Year
Finalist 2016









Grammy Awards
60th Awards (2017)
Nominee - Choral Performance


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