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The annual approach of Advent carries with it a certain dread for many musicians and music lovers for it is known that, in those days between American Thanksgiving and Christmas, virtually every chorister – amateur and professional – from Sydney to Seattle turns his attention to Messiah. Though he surely recognized the quality of the score he had produced, it is doubtful that even Händel at his...
Performances of Messiah are never difficult to find, especially during the Christmas and Easter holiday seasons, and the CD catalog is perennially rich in recordings of Handel's most popular work, several of them quite fine--so why should we care about yet another new recorded rendition of this beloved oratorio? The answer is, unlike the choirs and conductors who dominate that list of recordings...
Here is one of the finest choral performances among the myriad recordings of "Messiah." The choristers glide through Handel's treacherously florid lines with impeccable accuracy, as if in one glistening voice. And these smart soloists sing with a buoyant sense of style. Countertenor Iestyn Davies and soprano Julia Doyle imbue their music with fetching clarity and grace, and tenor Allan Clayton...
This is a very personal, very intimate reading of Messiah. I was almost put off completely when the Overture started; it is so soft and almost intruding that I could not imagine what was going to follow; but thankfully I stuck with it, for this is one of the more affecting readings to come my way since the Sixteen reading with Parrott on Coro.
I do wish the decision had not been made to go with a...
Stephen Layton has conducted Messiahs sporting choirs mustering 18 to 2,000 singers (and orchestras ranging from minimalist to well-upholstered). But at the centre of his Handel universe are the annual St John’s Smith Square Christmas performances with Polyphony – a now venerable festive fixture. Last year’s were recorded in readiness for a timely genuflection to Handel year, and while...
Christmas wouldn't be Chrismtas without a Messiah release, and there are few finer exponents of this great oratorio than Polyphony and Stephen Layton whose annual St John's Smith Square performances are a highlight of the season. The Britten Sinfonia and star soloists guarantee satisfaction.
I first heard conductor Stephen Layton's youthful thoughts on Handel's Messiah 20 years ago. His...