SITE RATING: 5/10
SITE REVIEW:
When
approaching a work that you're unfamiliar with, there are two basic
approaches: 1.) Don't listen to other's versions, in order to keep your
work fresh and unaffected by others' interpretations, or 2.) immerse
yourself deeply in what's gone before, and then choose the best parts
for your own vision. Marc Minkowski, who professes not to have
been familiar with Messiah
before this recording project, opted for the first approach, which can
be rewarding if the director brings something new to the
interpretation, but in Minkowski's hands, Messiah becomes a farce.
It's certainly not the fault of the French orchestra and choir,
who are certainly more familiar with Handel's demands than their
director; and you cannot fault the army of soloists which Minkowski
saddles himself with - no less than eight soloists, with Lynn Dawson
and John Mark Ainsley leading the pack of experienced Handellians.
No, the fault is supremely Minkowski's who defies all conventions
(which he may have hoped for) and common sense (which I doubt he
anticipated) in his tempos - especially on the choruses, which he
speeds along as if all the hounds of hell were chasing after him.
The rapidity of the tempos goes against not only the demands of
the piece, but against all natural sense - what possible reason could
there be to direct "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" as if in a blind
panic? The soloists and choir and orchestra should be applauded
for their virtuosity in keeping up with Markowski's demands, but unless
you're a completist, this Messiah is simply a curiosity piece, not an essential.
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