Handel - Messiah - 2-CD

HÖGSTA BETYG I SVENSKA DAGBLADET

BETYG: *****
LJUDKVALITET: *****
(Opus)

"Superba gossröster snitslar sig genom sopranariorna såväl som genom körstämmorna - matchade av Toby Spence genomlysta countertenor i altariorna, vår tids svar på stjärnkastraten Guadagnini. Spritsigt elastiska tempi, studsande jubelkörer kontras av recitativ mättade med spänningsrik eftertanke. Exotiskt också att höra en tenor i Rejoice greatly."
"...Higginbottoms lättfotade Messias gör helt enkelt lyssnaren helfrälst..."
(Svenska Dagbladet)

"En strålande inspelning med fina solister"
(Opus)

Choir of New College Oxford och Edward Higginbottom inspelning av Bachs "Johannespassion" (8.557296) utsågs till GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE. På denna CD tolkar de ännu ett sakralt mästerverk från barocken - Händels "Messias". I denna rekonstruktion av en version från 1751 sjunger en gossopran sopranariorna precis som på Händels tid.
Henry Jenkinson, gossopran

Otta Jones, gossopran

Robert Brooks, gossopran

Iestyn Davies, countertenor

Toby Spence, tenor

Eamonn Dougan, bas

Academy of Ancient Music; Choir of New College Oxford/
Edward Higginbottom

CD 1
Georg Friedrich Händel
Messias, HWV56 (version från 1751)

DEL I
1. Sinfonia
2. Recitativ: Comfort ye, my people (Tenor)
3. Aria: Every valley shall be exalted (Tenor)
4. Kör: And the glory of the Lord
5. Recitativ: Thus saith the Lord of Hosts (Bas)
6. Aria: But who may abide the day of His coming (Countertenor)
7. Kör: And He shall purify
8. Recitativ: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son (Countertenor)
9. Aria & kör: O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Countertenor)
10. Recitativ: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (Bas)
11. Aria: The people that walked in darkness (Bas)
12. Kör: For unto us a Child is born
13. Pifa
14. Recitativ: There were shepherds abiding in the field (Sopran)
15. Kör: Glory to God in the highest
16. Aria: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (Tenor)
17. Recitativ: Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (Countertenor)
18. Aria: He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Countertenor, Sopran)
19. Kör: His yoke is easy, His burthen is light

DEL II
20. Kör: Behold, the Lamb of God
21. Aria: He was despised and rejected of men (Countertenor)

CD 2

DEL II (forts.)
1. Kör: Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows
2. Kör: And with His stripes we are healed
3. Kör: All we like sheep have gone astray
4. Recitativ: All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn (Tenor)
5. Kör: He trusted in God that He would deliver Him
6. Recitativ: Thy rebuke hath broken His heart (Tenor)
7. Aria: Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow (Tenor)
8. Recitativ: He was cut off out of the land of the living (Sopran)
9. Aria: But thou didst not leave His soul in hell (Sopran)
10. Kör: Lift up your heads, O ye gates
11. Recitativ: Unto which of the angels said He at any time (Tenor)
12. Kör: Let all the angels of God worship Him
13. Aria: Thou art gone up on high (Countertenor)
14. Kör: The Lord gave the word
15. Aria: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace (Sopran)
16. Kör: Their sound is gone out into all lands
17. Aria: Why do the nations so furiously rage together (Bas)
18. Kör: Let us break their bonds asunder
19. Recitativ: He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn (Tenor)
20. Aria: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron (Tenor)
21. Kör: Hallelujah

DEL III
22. Aria: I know that my redeemer liveth (Sopran)
23. Kör: Since by man came death
24. Recitativ: Behold, I tell you a mystery (Bas)
25. Aria: The trumpet shall sound (Bas)
26. Recitativ: Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written (Countertenor)
27. Duett: O death, where is thy sting (Countertenor & Tenor)
28. Kör: But thanks be to God
29. Aria: If God is for us, who can be against us (Countertenor)
30. Kör: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
21. Kör: Amen

(1751 version) (New College Oxford Choir, Academy of Ancient Music, E. Higginbottom)

Handel’s most popular and joyous oratorio, a work of unfailing melodic invention and dramatic expressiveness, has become almost a British national institution, regularly performed by all manner of choirs and orchestras. This new recording provides the only modern re-
construction of Handel’s unique London performances in 1751, when he used boy treble voices not only for the choruses but for the arias as well. It is both a celebration of the British chapel choir tradition and a window onto a particular time and place in the history of Handel’s own performances of his masterpiece.