| SITE RATING:
0/10 SITE REVIEW:
Easily the most
crass, inept Messiah I've
ever heard, several copies of this 1997 studio production have
been showing up on eBay and other second-hand sites, with little in the
way of helpful information given. Sometimes going by the title "A
Christmas Gift" this
is the worst Christmas present you're likely to find under your tree.
I've dug around and discovered that this hack-job
was produced by "inspirational author" Don Boyer, and featuring
pre-recorded tracks by the London Symphony Orchestra (who ought to know
better), and directed by Don Wyrtzen, a staff member at Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. This is
the
kind of shoddy penny-pinching production that gives Christians a bad
name. The soloists all sound as if they're soft-rock artist
wanna-be's, with wispy vocals and no apparent classical technique; the
"choir" is a small group of recruited vocalists who sing indifferently
-
murdering the melismas, drowning in regional dialects, and marginally
following the bouncing baton of Wyrtzen, while the LSO, unknowingly
blemished by the entire affair, plays valiantly in the background.
A travesty. Avoid, avoid at all costs.
|
