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SITE RATING:  6/10 SITE REVIEW:  This recording, made in 1981 as a joint production of the Canadian Broadcasting Company and Synthescope Productions promises in its liner notes that "though electronic, the instrumental aspects of this recording are not sterile, but offer a warm and sparkling series of textures which fit well with the human voice" - but in reality (and with the benefit of hindsight), this recording sounds EXACTLY as if it were Handel's Messiah as performed on an episode of the cheesy Eighties-era television show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.  Synthesizer technology has come a long with in the decades since this recording was made, and the chirpy, unnatural accompaniment here sounds exactly very cold and of-its-time - and instrumental-only pieces such as the "Sinfonia (Overture)" and "Pifa" end up sounding like the an outtake from the soundtrack to Weird Science. Fortunately, The Elmer Iseler Singers, a twenty-voice chamber group which is still performing as of this writing, sings with great aplomb and feeling, injecting a welcome amount of humanity into what would otherwise be a tedious listening experience. Tempos are kept bright, and when the choir and synthesizers are performing together, such as on a tasteful "Behold the Lamb of God", the ringing disparity between them is not as obvious.  A curious recording, not without its pleasures, but only recommended for the ardent collector.

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