Looking for recordings of "The Messiah" by Händel

[corno]

Hi all,

As the Christmas season closes in upon us, the annual Messiah-concert-marathon approaches, at least here in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It's an annual tradition of almost all amateur aswell as professional ensembles here to perform the oratorium "The Messiah" by G.F. Händel (og Handel as he's more generally known to our english speaking friends). And that's all good and well, if you've got the time (and stamina) to sift through all these performances, but for the rest of us, mere mortals, who just want to hear a good recording of it now and then, we need some guidance in choosing a good recording of it.
I actually have one recording of it, but eventhough the soundquality is indeed that of a CD, it's really boooooring (the tempo is generally the pace of a goodheartened snail on it's way to a delicious snack) to listen to and way to opera-vibrato-of-the-worst-kind-like (like hearing Pavarotti singing pop or Sarah Brightman sing Verdi - in general more of a curiosity than really any good!).

So, does anyone have any suggestions of good recordings of this masterpiece?

Cheers,
Thomas

[Thomas Dressler]

Hi Thomas!

I've always liked the Academy of Ancient Music recording conducted by Christopher Hogwood. It's an old recording by now (1980s? I think) but I still like it. I also like the recording by the Tallic Scholars--very different in some ways. I'm not too much a fan of the huge chorus and huge orchestra versions. I've listened to a number of them, but my all time favorite is still the Hogwood recording.

You can listen to clips of it here

That is the page for it at Amazon.com. You might also just do a search there for "Messiah" and listen to a whole bunch of recordings until you find one you like.

Thomas Dressler

[sondance]

I like the samples so I'm going to give this a listen.
Not sure the snail is altogether gone but the vibratos have kept themselves under some control.
thanks!

[Thomas Dressler]

Correction--I said Tallis Scholars, but what I meant was "Taverner Consort!" (with Andrew Parrott conducting) Oops!

It's been awhile since I listened to the Taverner Consort recording, and I might be wrong, but I seem to recall that the tempos are slower than the Hogwood recording. . .

You're welcome Sondance--glad it was useful for you!

Thomas Dressler

[corno]

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for your recommendation. It's funny actually, earlier yesterday (prior to your post) I had a listen to several recordings, among them both the Hogwood you mention and the "mastodont of sound" with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Philadelpha Orchestra and Ormandy - and from what I've heard so far I really like the Hogwood/Ancient recording, it's in a nicely brisk pace without being to fast or uncontrolled - which makes many of the (boys!)choirparts extra/espcially light and transparent, so eventhough the sung text is somewhat serious/grave/biblical it's effect upon the listener is a lot more refined than most of the other recordings I've heard.
There's also the destinct sound of period instruments, which somebody might need to get used to - the instruments sounds generally a bit more "yearning" - but in this context it's actually enhancing the listening sensation.

[Thomas Dressler]

Well, as you already know, I think I like historically informed performances. If you listen closely to the Hogwood recording, you'll hear a very interesting practice in the performance of recitatives. It was the convention in the mid 20th century, or at least when I was younger, that when accompanying recitatives, the V-I or whatever chord progressions were to occur AFTER the singer finished, even if the notes appear in the score WHILE the singer is singing. The method that Hogwood uses of performing them exactly as written gives the recitatives a nice sense of urgency and forward motion.

[corno]

Is that a historical practice? do you perhaps have any source material on it?
I can see what you mean, but I'm not sure that it's "better" if it's a consistency in playing it that way if a given (urtext) publication has it the other way!?

[Thomas Dressler]

Well, both practices are historical in a sense, but it's likely that the way Handel did it was exactly the way it appears in the scores and the way Hogwood does it. The delayed way, as found in almost all recordings before about 1980, is, I believe, a 19th century practice that was applied retroactively to Handel. What I'm saying is that Hogwood does exactly what the urtexts say. The other way of doing it is a tradition of distorting the score that was not in practice in Handel's day, but it was very widely accepted before Hogwood and others began to question it. I'm hesitent to make value judgements of "better" or "worse" though I'll say that I like Hogwood's (and likely Handel's) way better.

[corno]

Ok, well, my question was ment in a broader sence as to the historical practice in the baroque periode as such, other oratorios by Handel and equivalent passions by Bach - is it the same with the cadenzas there?

[Thomas Dressler]

The question of how to do this has been debated a lot since around the time of Hogwood's recording. I don't know if there really is a definitive answer for how they did it in those days. But yes, this applies to all recitatives (secco, that is--accompanied with a keyboard instrument and not with a complicated orchestral accompaniment) in Baroque pieces in general--operas, oratorios, passions, cantatas. . .and it would include Bach as well as Handel. It's possible that Hogwood was being a little extreme in being such a literalist, but the way it was being done by the 1970s or so tended to get really tedious, too. I think the way they're performed needs to be sensitive to the text and the mood of what they're saying. I don't know, though, if anyone has figured out for sure the "correct" way to do it, or even if there is one. This is why the "historically informed" movement tends to avoid the word "authentic" these days--it's really impossible to be authentic. We can just be as informed as possible and then try to incorporate that information into our performances. (I may have been too hasty when I insinuated that Hogwood's way was Handel's way--we really don't know.)

[corno]

Ok. I've never thought about the timing of those cadenzas before, but I'll try to listen for it the next time I listen to the recordings I have of baroque secco recitatives.

[PipeOrganBuilder]

I think Mozart's "reorganization" of Handel's Messiah is intrigueing. It was his idea to expand the instrumentation and add what wasn't in the original. I like it, since it is the only version of it I have. The recording is on the BBC Music label, in a 2 disc set. I'm not sure if it can be found o the web, but let me know if you'd like to hear a sample.

[Thomas Dressler]

Another good reorchestration was undertaken years later, around 1902 I believe, by Ebenezer Prout. This version was used by Thomas Beechem and Malcolm Sargent, at least this is what I've heard--I can't document this. Those who know me might find it difficult to believe, but my favorite Messiah recording before the Hogwood one came out was by Malcolm Sargent. While his 1946 recording is preferred by many people, I prefer the other one (not sure of the original recording date.) I still have the old vinyl record of it that I had as a teenager. And you know what? I STILL LIKE IT! (Completely not what Handel intended, but a very deeply felt performance in the 20th century tradition.)

You can listen to clips on Amazon:

<a href="Malcolm Sargent recording" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...7846</a>

(I swear I do not have stock in Amazon.com, but I find it a very helpful place to listen to clips of recordings!)

Thomas Dressler

[Thomas Dressler]

I don't know why that link didn't work. I'll try it again.

Let's see if it works this time.
malcolm sargent messiah recording

Now that should work! Sorry about the other one!

Thomas Dressler