"Messiah" CD Review

Handel.
Cond. Harnoncourt, Concentus Musicus Wien, Stockholm Chamber Choirs, 1983.

Unlike a lot of classical pieces, where there can be quite a bit of room for leeway as to whose interpretation of a work you settle on, I feel strongly that with "Messiah" you need to get it right.

Since the work's creation, Handel's musical crowning glory, many interpretations have appeared and disappeared - I'm not getting at the contemporisations that have occurred - Quincy Jones's Soulful Celebration is a delightful gospel rundown of some of it.

The main thing I'm concerned about here is the timbre - the tone quality of the music.

Concentus Musicus are a highly respected "reconstruction" type orchestra - playing with authentic instruments and appropriate forces.

So, with this recording, we get the piece sounding pretty close to the way it was written - this especially allows some of the softer passages to speak, and not everything gets drowned out by a huge chorus (remember the Monty Python sketches featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir).

I love the sharp attacks, and the harpsichord and organ lines that come through in this recording.

The soloists are okay - adequate, committed and suitably agile, though slightly lacking in "X Factor"...

9/10.