Help
Skip to main content
Basket 0 items, $0.00

US TARIFFS UPDATE | August 2025 | No impact expected on your Presto orders | Read full details

Handel: Messiah

Joanne Lunn, Melanie Marshall, James Gilchrist & Christopher Purves

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter

Handel: Messiah
Not surprisingly, John Rutter's is essentially a traditional performance, but with lively tempi and no lack of expressive feeling; and it is very well recorded indeed...Altogether a fine set...

Penguin Guide, 20103 out of 4 stars

More reviews

Handel: Messiah

Joanne Lunn, Melanie Marshall, James Gilchrist & Christopher Purves

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter

Purchase product

2 CDs

$18.50

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Download

From$20.00

Download

Audio formats guide

44.1 kHz, 16 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

$25.75

320 kbps, MP3

$20.00

This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now lossless, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit
Free 30 day trial
Not surprisingly, John Rutter's is essentially a traditional performance, but with lively tempi and no lack of expressive feeling; and it is very well recorded indeed...Altogether a fine set...

Penguin Guide, 20103 out of 4 stars

More reviews

About

The world's best-loved sacred choral work. Among Handel's 20 or more oratorios, Messiah has long been the most-often performed, holding a place of honour in the hearts of audiences everywhere.

From Collegium Records is this beautifully-packaged 2CD set featuring the complete oratorio, recorded in the wonderful acoustic of the church of All Hallow's, Gospel Oak, London.

With:

Joanne Lunn, soprano

Melanie Marshall, mezzo-soprano

James Gilchrist, tenor

Christopher Purves, bass-baritone

CRITICAL ACCLAIM:

"Rutter's excellent feel for this music, his intelligence, and his sturdy and steady hand, make this ? in my opinion ? the finest modern-instrument recording since the legendary Philips release by Colin Davis in the 1960s." - Fanfare Magazine

"Not surprisingly, John Rutter's is essentially a traditional performance, but with lively tempi and no lack of expressive feeling; and it is very well recorded indeed ? altogether a fine set which will give much pleasure" - The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

"This recording deserves its rightful place among the numerous accounts of this timeless masterwork". - The American Organist

Contents and tracklist

Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1
Work length52:51
No. 1, Sinfony
Track length3:10
No. 2, Comfort Ye My People
Track length3:01
No. 3, Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
Track length3:12
No. 4, And the Glory of the Lord
Track length2:31
No. 5, Thus Saith the Lord of Hosts
Track length1:27
No. 6, But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming
Track length4:27
No. 7, And He Shall Purify the Sons of Levi
Track length2:37
No. 8, Behold, a Virgin Shall Conceive
Track length0:23
No. 9, O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion
Track length5:02
No. 10, For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover the Earth
Track length2:16
No. 11, The People That Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light
Track length2:56
No. 12, For unto Us a Child Is Born
Track length3:59
No. 13, Pifa "Pastoral Symphony"
Track length2:28
No. 14a, There Were Shepherds Abiding in the Fields - No. 14b, And Lo, the Angel of the Lord - No. 15, And the Angel Said unto Them - No. 16, And Suddenly There Was with the Angel
Track length1:19
No. 17, Glory to God in the Highest
Track length1:58
No. 18, Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion
Track length4:14
No. 19, Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be Opened
Track length0:22
No. 20, He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd
Track length4:59
No. 21, His Yoke Is Easy
Track length2:30
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2
Work length52:46
No. 22, Behold the Lamb of God
Track length2:47
No. 23, He Was Despised and Rejected of Men
Track length9:33
No. 24, Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs and Carried Our Sorrows
Track length2:09
No. 25, And with His Stripes We Are Healed
Track length1:56
No. 26, All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
Track length3:48
No. 27, All They That See Him Laugh Him to Scorn
Track length0:45
No. 28, He Trusted in God That He Would Deliver Him
Track length2:27
No. 29, Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart
Track length1:53
No. 30, Behold and See If There Be Any Sorrow
Track length1:24
No. 31, He Was Cut Off
Track length0:22
No. 32, But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul in Hell
Track length2:18
No. 33, Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
Track length3:14
No. 34, Unto Which of the Angels
Track length0:20
No. 35, Let All the Angels of God Worship Him
Track length1:32
No. 36, Thou Art Gone Up on High
Track length2:51
No. 37, The Lord Gave the Word
Track length1:10
No. 38, How Beautiful Are the Feet
Track length2:03
No. 39, Their Sound Is Gone Out into All Lands
Track length1:23
No. 40, Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together
Track length2:52
No. 41, Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder
Track length1:56
No. 42, He That Dwelleth in Heaven
Track length0:10
No. 43, Thou Shalt Break Them with a Rod of Iron
Track length1:53
No. 44, Hallelujah
Track length4:00
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 3
Work length32:41
No. 45, I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
Track length5:30
No. 46, Since by Man Came Death
Track length2:14
No. 47, Behold, I Tell You a Mystery
Track length0:33
No. 48, The Trumpet Shall Sound
Track length8:33
No. 49, Then Shall Be Brought to Pass
Track length0:15
No. 50, O Death, Where Is Thy Sting - No. 51, But Thanks Be to God
Track length3:18
No. 52, If God Be for Us, Who Can Be Against Us
Track length4:53
No. 53, Worthy Is the Lamb
Track length3:46
Amen
Track length3:39

Awards and reviews

2010

Not surprisingly, John Rutter's is essentially a traditional performance, but with lively tempi and no lack of expressive feeling; and it is very well recorded indeed...Altogether a fine set which will give much pleasure.
3 out of 4 stars
View download progress

Download queue