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Handel: Messiah

Lucy Crowe (soprano), Alex Potter (countertenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The English Concert & Choir, John Nelson

Handel: Messiah

Awards:

The theatrical instincts that have served Nelson so well in Berlioz ensure some detailed characterisation such as the semiquaver flurry of beating wings as the angels prepare to impart their...

BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 20234 out of 5 stars

More reviews

Handel: Messiah

Lucy Crowe (soprano), Alex Potter (countertenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The English Concert & Choir, John Nelson

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2 CDs + DVD Video

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Awards:

The theatrical instincts that have served Nelson so well in Berlioz ensure some detailed characterisation such as the semiquaver flurry of beating wings as the angels prepare to impart their...

BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 20234 out of 5 stars

More reviews

About

“A lifetime of performing Messiah has brought me enough courage to record this singularly famous piece of music. With the finest musicians and soloists on the planet surrounding me, I’m finally ready to lay down my personal interpretation for posterity.” The American conductor John Nelson, especially famed for his interpretations of Berlioz, conducted Handel’s most celebrated oratorio at Coventry Cathedral in the heart of England in November 2022. “In today’s turbulent world, I hope that this concert of Messiah in this symbolic location can be a powerful message of hope.” The performance is now released as a three-disc set – comprising the audio version (2 CDs) and the video (1 DVD). Nelson’s chosen version of the score reflects Messiah’s evolution over the period from 1741 (the original autograph) to the early 1750s, when a ‘standard’ version of the oratorio took shape. In addition, the CDs offer eight bonus tracks – alternative versions of now-familiar arias. Joining John Nelson are the historically informed orchestra and choir of The English Concert, soprano Lucy Crowe, countertenor Alex Potter, tenor Michael Spyres and bass Matthew Brook. As the Times wrote of the performance: “From shadowy strings in ‘For behold, darkness shall cover the earth’ to gilded trumpets and exuberant timpani in the final chorus, this was Handel straight from the opera house: dramatic and eloquent.”

  • Release date: 24th Nov 2023
  • Label: Erato
  • Catalogue number: 5419774160
  • Length: 2 hours 46 minutes
  • Genre:

Contents and tracklist

Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1
Work length52:40
Sinfonia. Grave - Allegro moderato
Track length3:33
Accompagnato. "Comfort Ye, My People"
Track length2:48
Aria. "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted"
Track length3:20
Chorus. "And the Glory of the Lord"
Track length2:29
Accompagnato. "Thus Saith the Lord of Hosts"
Track length1:25
Aria. "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?"
Track length4:18
Chorus. "And He Shall Purify"
Track length2:24
Recitative. "Behold, a Virgin Shall Conceive"
Track length0:25
Aria and Chorus. "O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion"
Track length5:06
Accompagnato. "For Behold"
Track length1:49
Aria. "The People That Walked in Darkness"
Track length3:23
Chorus. "For Unto Us a Child Is Born"
Track length4:05
Pifa. Larghetto e mezzo piano
Track length2:31
Recitative. "There Were Shepherds"
Track length0:16
Recitative. "And Lo, the Angel of the Lord Came Upon Them"
Track length0:18
Recitative. "And the Angel Said Unto Them"
Track length0:29
Recitative and Accompagnato. "And Suddenly"
Track length0:15
Chorus. "Glory to God in the Highest"
Track length1:49
Aria. "Rejoice Greatly"
Track length4:25
Recitative. "Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be Open'd"
Track length0:28
Duet. "He Shall Feed His Flock"
Track length4:50
Chorus. "His Yoke Is Easy"
Track length2:14
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2
Work length54:45
This work is only available as an album download.
Chorus. "Behold the Lamb of God"
Track length3:36
Aria. "He Was Despised"
Track length10:35
This track is only available as an album download.
Chorus. "Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs"
Track length2:12
Chorus. "And with His Stripes"
Track length2:11
Chorus. "All We, Like Sheep, Have Gone Astray"
Track length3:48
Accompagnato. "All They That See Him Laugh Him to Scorn"
Track length0:40
Chorus. "He Trusted in God"
Track length2:05
Accompagnato. "Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart"
Track length1:53
Aria. "Behold, and See"
Track length1:31
Recitative. "He Was Cut off out of the Land of the Living"
Track length0:16
Aria. "But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul in Hell"
Track length2:13
Chorus. "Lift Up Your Heads"
Track length2:57
Recitative. "Unto Which of the Angels He at Any Time"
Track length0:13
Chorus. "Let All the Angels of God Worship Him"
Track length1:29
Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High"
Track length3:10
Chorus. "The Lord Gave the Word"
Track length1:04
Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet"
Track length1:01
Chorus. "Break Forth into Joy"
Track length2:09
Chorus. "Their Sound Is Gone out into All Lands"
Track length1:26
Aria. "Why Do the Nations"
Track length2:50
Chorus. "Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder"
Track length1:34
Recitative. "He That Dwelleth in Heaven"
Track length0:10
Aria. "Thou Shalt Break Them"
Track length1:59
Chorus. "Hallelujah"
Track length3:43
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 3
Work length33:13
Aria. "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth"
Track length5:40
Chorus. "Since by Man Came Death"
Track length2:07
Accompagnato. "Behold, I Tell You a Mystery"
Track length0:40
Aria. "The Trumpet Shall Sound"
Track length8:46
Recitative. "Then Shall Be Brought to Pass the Saying"
Track length0:17
Duet. "O Death"
Track length1:36
Chorus. "But Thanks Be to God"
Track length2:03
Aria. "If God Be for Us"
Track length4:40
Chorus. "Worthy Is the Lamb"
Track length7:24
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Appendix
Work length26:14
Aria. "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?"
Track length3:13
Arioso. "But Lo, the Angel of the Lord Came Upon Them"
Track length1:37
Aria. "Rejoice Greatly"
Track length6:05
Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High"
Track length3:11
Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High" (Alternate Version)
Track length2:58
Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet"
Track length4:50
Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet" (Alternate Version)
Track length3:12
"Their Sound Is Gone out into All Lands"
Track length1:08

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

  • Presto Recording of the Week
    22nd December 2023
  • Opus Klassik Awards
    2024
    Nominated - Choral Recording of the Year

Christmas 2023

The theatrical instincts that have served Nelson so well in Berlioz ensure some detailed characterisation such as the semiquaver flurry of beating wings as the angels prepare to impart their joyous message.
4 out of 5 stars

24th November 2023

Past recordings of Handel’s Messiah are so numerous that it must be hard to present a new arrival that stands out from the crowd...the rhythmic lift is a delight and the soloists are good, especially soprano Lucy Crowe and tenor-for-all-seasons Michael Spyres. There is plenty here worth exploring.
4 out of 5 stars

December 2023

This, then, is a no-nonsense yet consistently interesting and invigorated Messiah, aided by a well-made recording, that should be both easy and rewarding to live with.

22nd December 2023

Nelson’s every interpretative decision seems to be rooted in his deep emotional engagement with these familiar texts, coupled with a reluctance to impose his own personality on the score for its own sake...The clarity of the sound, too, is quite exceptional, despite the notoriously tricky acoustic: there’s not so much as a hint of soupiness or blurred lines across the whole three hours.
Katherine Cooper

22nd November 2023

As with Berlioz, successful Handel conducting needs a love of gusto and the ability to sustain a dramatic line. None of that is a problem for Nelson, nor for Michael Spyres, Matthew Brook, Alex Potter and Lucy Crowe, all in excellent voice...This is a glorious recording.
5 out of 5 stars
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