SITE RATING:
5/10
SITE REVIEW:
I know many people
prefer this recording over
more modern interpretations, and in fact, this was the first Messiah
I owned.
I purchased it on CD after having sung in Messiah
with my father, and this seemed to be a good representation of my own
experience, with a large chorus and orchestra thundering their way
through the oratorio with little real style or differentiation between
movements. The soloists are, without exception, large voiced,
coming from the world of opera, and Andrew Davis deliberately chose to
shy away from the period-instrument movement, in what can only be
described as a reactionary move against what he must have seen as a
break with long-standing, "large forces" Messiah
tradition. The only thing I can say about his particular
recording is that I listen to it perhaps least of all my recordings.
It sat on my shelf year after year gather dust, and when I
took
it down, I would listen to a few select cuts, and then, satisfied, back
it would go on the shelf. I eventually got rid of it,
realizing
that it didn't move me, or stir me emotionally in any way.
The
largeness of this reading, the heavy gravitas with with the soloists
approach each aria, (especially the throaty, dark tones of Samuel
Ramey) and the bland dynamic range of the chorus simply faded in my
memory, and for many years, I thought the thrill that I had felt when
singing Messiah was an empty memory, a feeling reinforced by this
recording. I have since had my eyes opened by more recent
recordings, and although I can say that this is fine recording for its
time, I have little desire to recommend it to anyone.
~ BDW
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