How Do You Take Your Recording of Handel's Messiah?

[stopbush]

Poll question: How Do You Take Your Recording of Handel's Messiah?

Vote below

[Richardo]

1. With the Trocaderos dancing

...and yes, I know it's an oratorio and not a ballet. But I like the Trocaderos.

[Snow]

2. Beecham takes it waaaay too slow

and his soloists leave out all kinds of fun decorations.

[stopbush]

5. Not necessarily too slow

many of his tempi - especially the choruses - are quite upbeat. The Beecham/Goosens orchestration is also lots of fun...and Jon Vickers and Giorgio Tozzi are hard to beat in the larger-than-life soloist category!

[Snow]

12. I really love Vickers, too, although my daughter

thinks she can perform better than Vyvyan - I'm inclined to agree, especially the fast melismas. My daughter's a speed freak - she studied violin for like 6 or 7 years before starting voice.

[regnaD kciN]

19. Beecham's version is a joke...

...at least as far as I'm concerned. And I mean "joke" in the sense that it had my spontaneously bursting out in laughter at its absurdity at many times, particularly in the You-Know-What Chorus (trombones! saxophones! cymbals!).

:eyes:

I always loved the Colin Davis performance from the mid-60s in terms of a standard orchestra trying for an "authentic" style. In terms of "original instrument" performances, Gardiner's has always been my favorite for this time of the year, while my overall favorite (McGeghan, with his build-your-own-version-through-CD-programming "Messiah Construction Set") is a somewhat darker reading, more suited for the Lenten period when Messiah was originally performed than for the Advent and Christmas seasons.

[Zero Gravitas]

3. I'm a big fan of Baroque music

so its as authentic as possible. Oboes not clarinets, recorders not flutes etc.

[stopbush]

6. Of course, clarinets & flutes don't appear at all in Handel's

original orchestration which is a basic string orchestra enhanced with double winds (oboe & bassoon) and the trumpet/timpani battery. For flutes & clarinets, you need to go with one of the orchestrations by Robert Franz, Mozart or Goosens. Most of these are very much out of favor these days for the leaner sonorities of the original.

[Zero Gravitas]

8. Right

thats what I was getting at, I prefer the "HIP" approach to using more modern instruments that were not around when the piece was composed.

[Snow]

10. Well, I like the baroque approach, too, but the modern instruments

have a lot to recommend them. My son's an oboist, and he hates baroque oboes - they really do sound like ducks, he says.

[TacticalPeek]

4. Lenny.

All stops out.

[Zero Gravitas]

7. I'm HIP and didn't even know it

never heard the term before reading this thread, but thats what I like and so, of course, I'd heard of Christopher Hogwood and loved his approach, if its a baroque piece and Hogwood was involved with the recording I'd pick it up.

HIP = Historicaly Informed Performance BTW.

[stopbush]

9. Some of us say that HIP stands for

having intonation problems (ha!).

[Redleg]

11. Aha, other HIPers here at DU.

I had the pleasure of seeing Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music several years ago in Lincoln, NE. Andrew Manze and Emma Kirkby were the guest performers. Wonderful show.

[mobuto]

13. Gardiner? Christie? Solti? Pinnock?

You're leaving out some of the best recordings!

[BlackVelvetElvis]

14. Martin Pearlman and the Boston Baroque

Award winning, upbeat and thrilling.
I listen to it year round.

[mobuto]

15. I am anti HIP

Modern instruments are simply better. They produce better sound, more volume and a much greater dynamic range. If Handel had lived a hundred years later, he would have written for modern instruments, because they're so clearly superior. I don't see why we need to listen to an inferior product simply becuase that was the best they could do back in the day.

And this applies not just to Handel, but to all classical music. Have you ever heard Beethoven's sonatas on Pianoforte? Its horrifically bad.

[regnaD kciN]

20. If Handel had lived a hundred years later...

...he would have written an entirely different composition. What you hear on HIP recordings is what the composer imagined as he wrote it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I will always have a soft spot in my heart

for the Portland Baroque Orchestra's annual performances. Small orchestra and a chorus of about 25.

[ironflange]

17. #1 is my choice

I own the Hogwood Foundling Hospital version on LP (mmmmmm - Emma Kirkby). One of these years I'll move it over to CD.

But I also really love "Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration." There's more love in there than in most straight versions.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. I've fallen asleep at the wheel of my violin...

I'm only playing 3 different Messiahs this year. In the past, I've been booked for as many as 6 (some complete, some Part One only).

I don't own a recording; and if I did, I probably wouldn't listen to it. Lately I prefer playing it in as close to a baroque style as possible with my modern violin, because it's easier for me to maintain my concentration. I have fallen asleep while playing "He Shall Feed His Flock" under the direction of conductors who prefer a painfully slow tempo.

It's a strange experience, playing a relatively boring part (both fiddle parts are pretty dull) that I know so well, and suddenly realizing that I'm not playing anything remotely resembling what's printed on the page. That makes me wake up, at least.

I always thought it was possible to know something so well that you could play it in your sleep.

[peacefreak]

21. Loud

with soloists, on Christmas morning. Sometimes followed by Dr. Demento (yes, I'm a music heathen).

[jpgray]

22. Even though I enjoy the piece, I voted for Roy Orbison--it'd be great (nt)