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Special offer. Handel: Messiah
Erin Wall (soprano), Elizabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor), John Relyea (bass-baritone)
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 2nd December 2016
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2017, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Nominee - Choral Performance
Astonishingly well controlled…the solo voices are rich and weighty…[the] flute provides a charming obbligato to ‘How beautiful are the feet’, while the tenor’s ‘Thy rebuke…’ is intensely moving…a...
Special offer. Handel: Messiah
Erin Wall (soprano), Elizabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor), John Relyea (bass-baritone)
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Purchase product
Awards:
-
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
Astonishingly well controlled…the solo voices are rich and weighty…[the] flute provides a charming obbligato to ‘How beautiful are the feet’, while the tenor’s ‘Thy rebuke…’ is intensely moving…a...
About
Experience the transcendent glory of Messiah in Sir Andrew Davis’s new, majestic, must-hear edition of Handel’s beloved classic.
Recorded live for SACD release in surround sound, this unique version makes use of all the colours available from the modern symphony orchestra to underline the mood and meaning of the individual movements. Without detracting from the innate power of the original, the conductor’s score calls for moments of drama, pathos, and even, sometimes, whimsicality. It is supported by substantial brass and woodwind forces, and several percussion instruments (including marimba!). As he explains in a very personal booklet note, this leading British conductor brings immense dedication to what is probably the most famous piece of British sacred music ever composed, this version being one which he has conducted live only a few times, including on this recording. He confesses: ‘Everything I have done instrumentally stems from the enormous respect, even awe, which I feel towards this supreme masterpiece’.
Contents and tracklist
- Andrew Staples (tenor), John Relyea (bass), Elizabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano), Erin Wall (soprano)
- Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
- Sir Andrew Davis
- Recorded: December 2015
- Recording Venue: Live recording, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Spotlight on this release
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Bach's Christmas Oratorio from John Butt and Handel's Messiah from Andrew Davis
2nd Dec 2016
David listens to a contrasting double-bill of festive oratorios, with the Dunedin Consort and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Symphony Orchestra.
Awards and reviews
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Presto Recording of the Week2nd December 2016
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BBC Music MagazineJanuary 2017Choral & Song Choice
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2016
January 2017
Astonishingly well controlled…the solo voices are rich and weighty…[the] flute provides a charming obbligato to ‘How beautiful are the feet’, while the tenor’s ‘Thy rebuke…’ is intensely moving…a remarkable choral achievement
January 2017
This is obviously not a basic ‘Library ‘ Messiah but can be cautiously recommended as a curiosity for those enjoy arrangements and transcriptions.
13th December 2016
A performance I will return to often and with great pleasure.
2nd December 2016
Davis’s new orchestration of Messiah is either, depending on your point of view, an act of unpardonable musical blasphemy or a gloriously tongue-in-cheek tribute to a well-loved masterpiece...the overall effect is just of a lush, Romantic orchestration rather than of forced aural gimmickry.
2nd December 2016
Davis has thrown every resource of the modern symphony orchestra at the task. The result is rather as if the Disney Corporation had bought the rights to the show...The Toronto Symphony Orchestra plays with terrific spirit, especially the brass, and there are four excellent soloists.
