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RECORDINGS |
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| LABEL: |
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON |
| CATALOG NUMBER: |
471 232-2 |
| UPC NUMBER: |
028947123224 |
| NUMBER OF DISCS: |
3 |
| RUNNING
TIME: |
191:51 |
| YEAR RECORDED: |
1959 |
| CD RELEASE DATE: |
MAY 14, 2002 |
| CONDUCTOR: |
HERMANN SCHERCHEN |
| ORCHESTRA: |
VIENNA STATE OPERA
ORCHESTRA |
| CHOIR: |
VIENNA ACADEMY
CHAMBER CHOIR |
| SOPRANO: |
PIERRETTE ALARIE |
| CONTRALTO: |
NAN MERRIMAN |
| TENOR: |
LÉOPOLD
SIMONEAU |
| BASS: |
RICHARD STANDEN |
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DISC ONE
1. Symphony
2. Accompagnato: Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My ...
3. Air: Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
4. Chorus: And the Glory of the Lord Shall ...
5. Accompagnato: Thus Saith the Lord of Hosts
6. Air: But Who May Abide the Day of His ..
7. Chorus: And He Shall Purify
8. Recitative: Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive
9. Air & Chorus: O Thou That Tellest Good ...
10. Accompagnato: For Behold, Darkness ...
11. Air: The People That Walked in Darkness
12. Chorus: For Unto Us a Child Is Born
13. Pifa (Pastoral Symphony/Hirtenmusik/Pas ...
14. Recitative: There Were Shepherds Abiding in
15. Chorus: Glory to God in the Highest
16. Air: Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion
17. Recitative: Then Shall the Eyes of the ...
18. Air: He Shall Feed His Flock
19. Chorus: His Yoke Is Easy, His Burthen ...
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DISC
TWO
1. Chorus: Behold the Lamb
of God
2. Air: He Was Despised
3. Chorus: Surely, He Hath Borne Our Griefs
4. Chorus: And with His Stripes We Are Healed
5. Chorus: All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
6. Accompagnato: All They That See Him
7. Chorus: He Trusted in God
8. Accompagnato: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken ...
9. Arioso: Behold, And See If There Be Any ...
10. Accompagnato: He Was Cut Off Out of the ...
11. Air: But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul
12. Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates
13. Recitative: Unto Which of the Angels
14. Chorus: Let All the Angels of God ...
15. Air: Thou Art Gone Up on High
16. Chorus: The Lord Gave the Word
17. Air: How Beautiful Are the Feet
18. Chorus: Their Sound Is Gone Out
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DISC
THREE
1. Air: Why Do the
Nations So Furiously Rage
2. Chorus: Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder
3. Recitative: He That Dwelleth in Heaven
4. Air: Thou Shalt Break Them
5. Chorus: Hallelujah
6. Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
7. Chorus: Since by Man Came Death
8. Accompagnato: Behold, I Tell You a Mystery
9. Air: The Trumpet Shall Sound
10. Recitative: Then Shall Be Brought to Pass
11. Duet: O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
12. Chorus: But Thanks Be to God
13. Air: If God Be for Us
14. Chorus: Worthy Is the Lamb That Was Slain - Amen |
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SITE RATING: 8/10
SITE REVIEW: Hermann
Scherchen's second Messiah
recording
of the 1950s is, if anything, even more expansive than his epic 1954
cycle, and has many things to recommend it. For one
thing,
it's in stereo, giving clarity and separation which the 1954 recording
lacked, but the sound, for being from the late 1950s, is very very good
- again, it puts the Ormandy
and Bernstein
discs to shame.
Tenor Léopold Simoneau is marvellous, with a
clear,
powerful
tessatura, bass Richard Standen carries a deep, powerful authority in
his arias, alto Nan Merriman is unlistenable with a omni-present
vibrato nearly shaking my speakers into pieces, and I found soprano
Pierrette Alarie lovely, if a bit too studied in her ornamentations.
The balance of the Vienna Academy Chamber Choir and Vienna
State
Opera Orchestra is very fine, with warm, naturalistic performances from
all involved. Many will find Scherchen's tempos too heavy,
and on
some movements, such as the contrapuntal "His Yoke Is Easy" is sounds
too slow and lumbering - I much prefer quicker, lighter readings; still
for its era, this is one of the finest of the "old school" Messiahs,
and the remastering and notation of the DG set is worthy of discovery
for those wanting a grand, expansive Messiah
in their
collection.
~ BDW
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