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Handel: Messiah

Search: 16. Air: Rejoice greatly- o daughter of Zion - Heather Harper- London Symphony Orchestra- Colin Davis
by: Heather Harper Helen Watts John Wakefield John Shirley-Quirk London Symphony Chorus London Symphony Orchestra Colin Davis

Release Date March 12, 2001
This version of Messiah played on modern instruments strikes me as being similar in feeling to a well tailored classical blazer. It is refined, contained, and very pleasant. It has a rather large sound and very good soloists. The choral singing has moments of great beauty and the large sound of the orchestra manages to create moments of subtle delicacy. The soloists reach moments of great operatic drama and beauty with deep feeling within the context of an overall restrained reading. It is not the best Messiah recording ( I think the best are the period instrument performances of Christie on Harmonia Mundi and Hogwood on l'Oiseau Lyre) but it is a very good interpretation on modern instruments with good to excellent soloists and many moments ... Read More:

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Handel: Messiah

Search: 16. Air: Rejoice greatly- o daughter of Zion - Heather Harper- London Symphony Orchestra- Colin Davis
from: Duo

Release Date May 10, 1993
In the same way that Naxos' New College Oxford recording of "Messiah" is an example of the English Cathedral tradition, this recording is a great sample of the choral society tradition. Although the recording includes some huge names from the world of classical music, I was not over-enthralled by the recording as a whole. The age of the recording (1966) is made obvious in the quality of sound, and the entire ensemble is too big to hear the words properly, and of course this is reflected in the acoustic. The presentation is acceptable, but there are few programme notes and no copy of the text. However, what this recording does have is drama and vigour in abundance.

Both the choir and orchestra sing well and accurately enough, and the ... Read More: