---

SITE RATING:  5/10 SITE REVIEW:  To say that I was disappointed in Signum Classics new release of Handel's is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Not that it's a terrible performance, but I was shocked that it's so mundane.  Having been spoiled on recent releases by Frieder Bernius, Stephen Layton, and Jeannette Sorrell,  and having heard wonderful performances out of the Huddersfield Choral Society under Harry Christophers, I was expecting something sharper, more potent.  But this live recording, under the baton of Jane Glover, has no strong vision to its construction, the soloists sound strained and unfocused, and the Huddersfield Choral Society struggles with small intonation problems throughout; and the entire recording sounds a touch bleary.  Tenor Mark Le Brocq (who was sublime under Jurgen Budday's Messiah) sounds more muscled here, a problem which hampers all the soloists, as if they're having to project under natural acoustics, and are pushing their sound out more.  Catherine Wyn-Rogers, who also appeared with the Huddersfield Choral Society on the Christophers set, sounds past her prime here, with a throatier sound and wider vibrato, while Elizabeth Watts sounds strained and a bit brittle.  James Oldfield brings great blustering force to his bass arias, but his timbre thins out in his lower register.  Glovers tempos are neither hot nor cold, but a lackluster middle-ground which didn't engage.  The Huddersfield Choral Society sounds thicker and older here than previous recordings, and their mic'ing is also weighted towards the upper voices, leaving the lower end sadly lacking in the mix, and certain melismas disappear in the muddy blend.  The concert does boast an unusual "extra" - namely a performance of John Wainwright's "Christians Awake" which I felt added a jarring invocation to the listening experience.  A recording that hearkens back to recordings from the Fifties and Sixties, and which falls decidedly in the middle of the expanding roster of Messiahs.

---