RECORDINGS

LABEL: CURTAIN CALL PRODUCTIONS
CATALOG NUMBER: CCPDV1001 [DVD]
UPC NUMBER: 880574000022
NUMBER OF DISCS: 2
RUNNING TIME: 1:50:27
YEAR RECORDED: 2002
CD RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 10, 2004
CONDUCTOR: RON ZARCHI
ORCHESTRA: RANAANA SYMPHONETTE
CHOIR: UPPER GALILEE CHOIR
SOPRANO: YAELA AVITAL
CONTRALTO: IRENA STREBIN
TENOR: BOAZ DAVIDOFF
BASS: DAVID ZABA
AUDIO SAMPLES HIGHLIGHTS OTHER RELEASES
DISC ONE

1. No. 1 Sinfony     3:06
2. No. 2 Comfort ye    2:523. No. 3 Every valley    3:24
4. No. 4 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed    3:02
5. No. 5 Thus saith the Lord    1:26
6. No. 6 But who may abide the day of His coming    4:28
7. No. 7 And He shall purify    2:32
8. No. 8 Behold, a virgin shall conceive    0:27
9. No. 9 O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion    5:08
10. No. 10 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth    2:04
11. No. 11 The people that walked    3:08
12. No. 12 For unto us a Child is born    3:59
13. No. 13 Pifa/No. 14 There were shepherds abiding in the fields    1:46
14. No. 15 And the angel said unto them    0:38
15. No. 16 And suddenly there was with the angel/ No. 17 Glory to God    2:11
16. No. 18 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion    4:22
17. No. 19 Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened    0:33
18. No. 20 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd    5:07
19. No. 21 His yoke is easy    2:29
 DISC TWO

1. No. 22 Behold the Lamb of God    2:40
2. No. 23 He was despised    5:32
3. No. 24 Surely He hath borne our griefs    1:42
4. No. 25 And with His stripes we are healed    1:56
5. No. 26 All we like sheep have gone astray    3:53
6. No. 29 Thy rebuke hath broken His heart    1:36
7. No. 30 Behold, and see if there be any sorrow    1:15
8. No. 31 He was cut off out of the land of the living    0:23
9. No. 32 But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell    2:19
10. No. 33 Lift up your heads, O ye gates    3:02
11. No. 37 The Lord gave the word    1:11
12. No. 41 Let us break their bonds asunder    1:51
13. No. 42 He that dwelleth in heaven    0:18
14. No. 43 Thou shalt break them    2:01
15. No. 44 Hallelujah!    3:51
16. No. 45 I know that my Redeemer liveth    5:23
17. No. 46 Since by man came death    1:54
18. No. 47 Behold, I tell you a mystery    0:38
19. No. 48 The trumpet shall sound    4:01
20. No. 52 If God be for us    5:06
21. No. 53 Worthy is the Lamb    7:13
SITE RATING:  4/10
SITE REVIEW:  Just as I get a little leary when a recording trumpets its technical prowess over its content, I also get a mite suspicious when a Messiah justifies its existence by claiming it has some special "spiritual dispensation" over other recordings.  This 2002 performance, conducted by Ron Zarchi and marketed by the evangelical Curtain Call Productions, advertises itself as being "a miraculous work recorded live at a miraculous place" - as if  this particular performance is worthy of owning based solely upon its location.  My suspicions increased during the opening credits, which strongly implied that Messiah was written as an evangelical work - which would have surprised George Frideric Handel, who caused a serious uproar among London clergy by originally performing it in public theaters and sung by publicly-vilified actors.  Regardless, this is a very amateur performance, with soloists who are swallowed and shrill, (alto Irena Strebin, bass Daivd Zaba), given over to excessive ornamentation (tenor Boaz Davidoff), a choir (the merely competent Upper Galilee Choir) who is entirely swallowed in the shockingly dim acoustics of the Benedictine Church, and a surprisingly poor recording, often switching the recorded sound from close to natural acoustics, often during a single aria!  Zarchi's tempos are all quite safe and moderate, bringing neither fire or particular grace to the proceedings.  In short, instead of this being an inspirational performance, it's instead a frustrating one, with very poor recorded sound, sub-par soloists, and a stridently religious aftertaste.
The Compleat Messiah All Content Copyright © 2009 Bret D. Wheadon
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