Handel: Messiah, HWV 56

John Nelson, The English Concert

Released on 24-11-2023 by Warner Classics
Main artists: John Nelson The English Concert
Genre: Opera

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Language available : english

For many music lovers it wasn't all that long ago there were only three recordings generally available in the U.S. of Handel’s Messiah—the glorious travesty of Thomas Beecham’s, in which the great man junked Handel’s baroque orchestration, common practice for the time, and wrote his own with enormous numbers of strings and not-exactly period instruments like woodwinds, trombones and horns, an elaborate percussion battery and, the finishing touch, harps.

Malcolm Sargent did similarly with his recording of Messiah, though he showed a little more restraint than Beecham. Last, and likely the best-selling Messiah recording at the time in the States, was Eugene Ormandy’s effort, in which he exercised still more restraint in re-orchestrating, though it was hardly period, with added woodwinds, a multitude of strings and other anachronistic additions. Also, in order to make his recording take up only two LPs, Ormandy, no doubt under orders from Columbia Records, made egregious cuts, especially in Part II, which, it may be argued, is the heart of Messiah, in that it concerns the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. The Hallelujah Chorus was generously retained.

Come the mid-sixties hitherto performance and recording practices of Messiah were turned on their ear by the nearly concomitant releases of recordings conducted by Colin Davis with the London Symphony Orchestra and Charles Mackerras with the English Chamber Orchestra. In those revelatory recordings with no cuts, both conductors made serious attempts to recreate as much as possible the original orchestrations and performance practices of the time, with far smaller forces in both orchestra and chorus and using period tempi and phrasing. They forever changed the way Messiah, and all Handel oratorios, were interpreted afterward.

Since their release over a half-century ago, there are now more Messiah recordings than asteroids between Mars and Jupiter; culling the good from the not-so-good is a nearly impossible task. John Nelson’s Messiah, however, makes the choice considerably easier. This reviewer has listened to more recordings than he can count of Messiah and Nelson’s easily tops the list. With a top-notch orchestra, soloists, and chorus, as well its superlative Hi-Res audio, it is difficult to detect any flaws in this Messiah.

Nelson’s tempi, while generally brisk, are not overly so, unlike those of many conductors today, who seem to think baroque music must always be played prestissimo and alla breve. The soloists’ ornamentations, while elaborate, never exceed the bounds of historical practice and have a marvelous and spontaneous quality. Some may be critical of the overly operatic manner in which the arias are performed, especially by the extraordinary male alto, Alex Potter, but they lose sight that oratorios were a result of the Church of England in Handel's time banning opera during Lent. Oratorios, with their biblical texts, were simply a get-around of the Church's ban. Contemporary audiences demanded their opera and that is exactly what they got in Handel's oratorios, minus the scenery and absurd plots.

There is an overall freshness and liveliness in the playing of the English Concert and Choir, as well the singing of the soloists, which defy description. There is also a gratifying bonus in this release: eight additional tracks of arias scored for different voices, and which differ, often substantially, from the more frequently heard versions. They are a result of the oratorio being performed in different venues shortly after its composition and Handel making alterations to suit the forces available. This recording is a remarkable accomplishment. © Anthony Fountain/Qobuz

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Handel: Messiah, HWV 56

John Nelson

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