Handel: Messiah

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Three of the four outstanding soloists - fine Handelians all - cut their teeth in the choir, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers has been a regular soloist. Crucially they don't stand apart, regally dispensing... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2008, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Sep 2008
Catalogue No: COR16062
Label: Coro
Length: 2 hours 28 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

25th August 2008
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Handel: Messiah

Work length2:25:16

$56.50

$79.10

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Part 1, Symphony

Track length3:09

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$1.40

Part 1, Comfort ye, my people (Accompagnato, Tenor)

Track length3:11

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Part 1, Every valley shall be exalted (Air, Tenor)

Track length3:33

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Part 1, And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed (Chorus)

Track length3:00

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Part 1, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts (Accompagnato, Bass)

Track length1:23

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Part 1, But who may abide? (Air, Alto)

Track length4:24

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Part 1, And He shall purify (Chorus)

Track length2:29

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Part 1, Behold a virgin shall conceive (Recitative, Alto)

Track length0:30

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Part 1, O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Air, Alto - Chorus)

Track length5:08

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Part 1, For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (Accompagnato, Bass)

Track length2:35

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Part 1, The people that walked in darkness (Air, Bass)

Track length3:15

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Part 1, For unto us a child is born (Chorus)

Track length4:01

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Part 1, Pastoral Symphony (Pifa)

Track length2:51

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Part 1, There were shepherds abiding in the field (Recitative, Soprano)

Track length0:19

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Part 1, And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them (Accompagnato, Soprano)

Track length0:22

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Part 1, And the angel said unto them: Fear not (Recitative, Soprano)

Track length0:31

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Part 1, And suddenly there was with the angel (Accompagnato, Soprano)

Track length0:16

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Part 1, Glory to God in the highest (Chorus)

Track length1:56

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Part 1, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (Air, Soprano)

Track length4:10

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Part 1, Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (Recitative, Alto)

Track length0:32

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Part 1, He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Air, Alto and Soprano)

Track length5:38

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Part 1, His yoke is easy and His burthen is light (Chorus)

Track length2:19

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Part 2, Behold the lamb of God (Chorus)

Track length3:08

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Part 2, He was despised and rejected of men (Air, Alto)

Track length11:34

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Part 2, Surely He hath borne our griefs (Chorus)

Track length2:00

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Part 2, And with His stripes we are healed (Chorus)

Track length1:53

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Part 2, All we like sheep have gone astray (Chorus)

Track length4:12

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Part 2, All they that see Him laugh Him (Accompagnato, Tenor)

Track length0:51

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Part 2, He trusted in God that He would deliver Him (Chorus)

Track length2:21

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Part 2, Thy rebuke hath broken His heart (Accompagnato, Tenor)

Track length2:06

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Part 2, Behold and see if there be any sorrow (Arioso, Tenor)

Track length1:33

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Part 2, He was cut off out of the land of the living (Accompagnato, Tenor)

Track length0:18

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Part 2, But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell (Air, Tenor)

Track length2:22

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Part 2, Lift up your heads, O ye gates (Chorus)

Track length2:58

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Part 2, Unto which of the angels said He at any time (Recitative, Tenor)

Track length0:17

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Part 2, Let all the angels of God worship Him (Chorus)

Track length1:28

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Part 2, Thou art gone up on high (Air, Alto)

Track length3:08

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Part 2, The Lord gave the word (Chorus)

Track length1:10

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Part 2, How beautiful are the feet of them (Air, Soprano)

Track length2:08

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Part 2, Their sound is gone out into all lands (Chorus)

Track length1:24

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Part 2, Why do the nations so furiously rage together? (Air, Bass)

Track length2:46

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Part 2, Let us break their bonds asunder (Chorus)

Track length1:53

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Part 2, He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn (Recitative, Tenor)

Track length0:15

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Part 2, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron (Air, Tenor)

Track length2:15

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Part 2, Hallelujah! (Chorus)

Track length3:57

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Part 3, I know that my redeemer liveth (Air, Soprano)

Track length6:20

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Part 3, Since by man came death (Chorus)

Track length2:31

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Part 3, Behold, I tell you a mystery (Accompagnato, Bass)

Track length0:40

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Part 3, The trumpet shall sound (Air, Bass)

Track length8:33

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Part 3, Then shall be bought to pass (Recitative, alto)

Track length0:17

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Part 3, O Death, where is thy sting? (Duet, alto and tenor)

Track length1:04

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Part 3, But thanks be to God (Chorus)

Track length2:11

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Part 3, If God be for us, who can be against us? (Air, soprano)

Track length4:53

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Part 3, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain (Chorus)

Track length3:31

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Part 3, Amen (Chorus)

Track length3:47

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Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (from Solomon)

Work length3:01

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The Sixteen

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Recording of the Week, Beautiful Messiah and Exquisite Morales

25th August 2008

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen offer a Messiah of ‘formidable achievement’, whilst The Brabant Ensemble present a compelling programme motets and lamentations by the Spanish Renaissance composer Cristóbal de Morales.

Hot on the heels of their landmark appearance on BBC Four’s Sacred Music programme Harry Christophers and his award-winning ensemble The Sixteen are releasing a brand new recording of Handel’s Messiah. On this disc The Sixteen and Harry Christophers are joined by four soloists, all revered Handelians who have had a long association with the choir - Carolyn Sampson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Padmore and Christopher Purves. Indeed, Carolyn, Mark and Christopher all sung as members of the choir before embarking on successful solo careers.

The Sixteen has performed Messiah over 150 times and over the years the two have become synonymous with one another. Arguably the most famous oratorio ever written and certainly Handel’s best known work, Messiah needs little introduction. Composed in a staggering 24 days, Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 where it received a rapturous welcome.

Harry Christophers first conducted Messiah in 1985 and has been celebrated by audience and critics alike for his gripping and inventive interpretations ever since. Over the years ‘The Sixteen’s Messiah’ has become almost legendary with audiences flocking to performances year after year and, of course, Harry’s interpretation of this great masterpiece has changed and developed.

This exceptional new recording demonstrates an accomplished expertise, honed over the past 23 years.

Reviews

September 2008

Three of the four outstanding soloists - fine Handelians all - cut their teeth in the choir, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers has been a regular soloist. Crucially they don't stand apart, regally dispensing arias between familiar chorus; pre-eminently this is an 'ensemble' Messiah with everything (including the superb instrumental playing and imaginatively realised continuo) directed towards the unfolding of an involving theological narrative.

2010

Over the past few decades Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have performed Messiah about 150 times. This new Coro recording presents them to better advantage than their uneven 1987 version for Hyperion: the choir remains excellent 21 years later but the orchestra and soloists are a vast improvement. Only one member of the choir and two orchestral players repeat their roles in the 2008 performance, and the violin section has swelled from seven to 12, which helps to produce a stronger theatrical sound. Christophers's interpretation nowadays is just over four minutes longer than it was in 1987, so there are no radical changes in his overall pacing, but taking a few things a notch slower suggests an increased confidence and maturity.
The contribution from the oboes is more telling and to the fore than one usually hears, although the prominence of the organ as a continuo instrument is seldom convincing (nor is the use of theorbo accompaniment in recitatives).
The Sixteen's choral singing has clarity, balance, shapely moulding of contrapuntal lines and plenty of unforced power. When necessary, resonant homophonic grandeur is achieved without pomposity. The contrast between the playful and solemn parts of 'All we like sheep' is wondrously realised, and the soft sections of 'Since by man came death' are breathtaking.
Three of the soloists earned their spurs as members of The Sixteen. Mark Padmore, a choir member in 1987 and here making his third (and best) Messiah recording as a soloist, could be a little lighter in 'Comfort ye', but his evangelical communication of words is highly effective in 'Thy rebuke hath broken his heart'. Carolyn Sampson and the orchestra's violins relish an equal dialogue in 'Rejoice greatly', and her coloratura sparkles with clarity and assurance.
Christopher Purves sings 'For behold, darkness shall cover the earth' more softly than one usually hears, and 'The trumpet shall sound' is lyrical and suave (with splendid obbligato from Robert Farley).
Christophers conducts with finesse and integrity. This fine team performance is a safe recommendation for anyone wanting to acquire an all-purpose 'period' Messiah.

November 2008

The Sixteen's choral singing has clarity, balance, shapely moulding of contrapuntal lines and plenty of unforced power. This fine team performance is a safe recommendation for anyone wanting to acquire an all-purpose "period" Messiah.

a Messiah of splendid vitality and authority, a summation of Christophers’s and The Sixteen’s Handelian enterprise.

25th August 2008

The tempos are generally slightly faster than on the earlier recording but it is the quality of sound which stands it apart. The choruses are all perfectly balanced...a formidable achievement.

28th September 2008

Harry Christophers thinks he has conducted the work more often than any living Handelian and it shows in this lush, refined, meticulous reading, with superb soloists

9th August 2008

Smoothly yet energetically planed on the period instruments of the Sixteen orchestra and impeccably refined chorus, the text is lovingly caressed rather than ebulliently dramatised. The Hallelujah chorus is no rambunctious run, Part II's “lift up your heads” didactic rather than celebratory. Floating over the top are Carolyn Sampson's porcelain soprano, and the alto Catherine Wyn Rogers, whose He was Despised acquaints us with grief indeed.

Offer,Handel: Messiah

3 CDs

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Contents

Recording of the Week, Beautiful Messiah and Exquisite Morales

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