SITE RATING: 3/10
SITE REVIEW:
The
Stradivari Strings, a "house orchestra" for Pirouette Records, put out
several anonymous albums in the late Fifites and early Sixties, and on
this similarly eponymous album, tackles choruses from the Messiah
with an equally anonymous soloists, choir, and conductor. The
choir is populated by shrieking sopranos and profundo basses who sound
as if they're auditioning for a role in Götterdämmerung . Everything is sung and played with great, heaving gusto, as if this is the last time anyone is going hear Messiah,
and needs to make an impression; and its a sure sign of desperate
marketing when the producers decide to start the recording with
"Hallelujah", ensuring that the most popular, recognizable chorus is
heard right off the bat. This album lived up to every single one
of my (admittedly low) expectations. The soloists are
middle-grade talents, with the tenor giving a somewhat bewildered
reading of "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted"; the alto sounding like a
dowdy matron who's been asked to perform for her dinner guests, much to
their dismay; the soprano is a bright spot, having a pure tessitura and
not-unpleasant vibrato; and a blustery bass who seems to be channeling
a tropical depression in his throaty, overheated solos. The entire
production smacks of quick and cheap, and the performances, for the
most part, are amateurish in the worst sense of the word.
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