Handel - Messiah (ed. Andrew Davis) | Chandos CHSA51762

Handel - Messiah (ed. Andrew Davis)

£28.98

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Label: Chandos

Cat No: CHSA51762

Format: Hybrid SACD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Vocal/Choral

Release Date: 28th October 2016

Contents

Artists

Erin Wall (soprano)
Elizabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano)
Andrew Staples (tenor)
John Relyea (bass-baritone)
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Andrew Davis

Works

Handel, George Frideric

Messiah, HWV56 (ed. Andrew Davis)

Artists

Erin Wall (soprano)
Elizabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano)
Andrew Staples (tenor)
John Relyea (bass-baritone)
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Andrew Davis

About

Experience the transcendent glory of Messiah in Sir Andrew Davis’s new, majestic, must-hear edition of Handel’s beloved classic.

Recorded live for SACD release in surround sound, this unique version makes use of all the colours available from the modern symphony orchestra to underline the mood and meaning of the individual movements. Without detracting from the innate power of the original, the conductor’s score calls for moments of drama, pathos, and even, sometimes, whimsicality. It is supported by substantial brass and woodwind forces, and several percussion instruments (including marimba!).

As he explains in a very personal booklet note, this leading British conductor brings immense dedication to what is probably the most famous piece of British sacred music ever composed, this version being one which he has conducted live only a few times, including on this recording. He confesses: ‘Everything I have done instrumentally stems from the enormous respect, even awe, which I feel towards this supreme masterpiece.’

Reviews

Andrew Davis adopts the expansive model: almost 150 voices and orchestral forces of 55 strings, wind from piccolo to contrabasson, and a huge battery of percussion including such exotica as marimba and sleigh bells. He calls on some wonderfully imaginative orchestral techniques: ‘All we like sheep’ accompanied by pizzicato strings…  George Pratt (Choral & Song Choice)
BBC Music Magazine January 2017

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