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| |  | Religion & Spirituality | Home » » » Handel: Messiah (Complete Oratorio); Battle, Quivar, Aler, Ramey, Davis | | | | | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| October 25, 1990 | | Studio:
| EMI Classics | | Conductor:
| George Frideric Handel | | Orchestra:
| Samuel Ramey | | Number Of Discs:
| 2 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 34 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | Disc: 1 | | | 1. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Sinfonia | | 2. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Comfort ye my people | | 3. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Ev'ry valley shall be exalted | | 4. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: And the glory, the glory of the Lord | | 5. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Thus saith the Lord | | 6. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: But who may abide | | 7. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: And he shall purify | | 8. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Behold a virgin shall conceive | | 9. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: O thou that tellest | | 10. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth | | 11. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: The people that walked in darkness | | 12. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: For unto us a child is born | | 13. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: (Pastoral Symphony) | | 14. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: There were shepherds | | 15. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: And lo, the Angel of the Lord | | 16. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: And the Angel said unto them | | 17. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: And suddenly there was with the angel | | 18. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Glory to God in the highest | | 19. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion | | 20. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: Then shall the eyes of the blind | | 21. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: He shall feed his flock | | 22. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part One: His yoke is easy | | 23. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Behold the Lamb of God | | 24. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: He was depised | | | Disc: 2 | | | 1. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Surely he hath borne our griefs | | 2. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: And with His stripes we are healed | | 3. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: All we like sheep | | 4. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: All they that see Him | | 5. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: He trusted in God | | 6. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Thy rebuke hath broken His heart | | 7. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Behold, and see if there be any sorrow | | 8. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: He was cut off out of the land | | 9. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: But thou didst not leave | | 10. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Lift up your heads | | 11. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Unto which of the angels | | 12. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Let all the angels of God worship Him | | 13. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Thou art gone up on high | | 14. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: The Lord gave the word | | 15. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Their sound is gone out | | 16. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Why do the nations? | | 17. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Let us break their bonds asunder | | 18. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: He that dwelleth in heaven | | 19. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Thou shall break them | | 20. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Two: Hallelujah | | 21. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: I know that my Redeemer liveth | | 22. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: Since by man came death | | 23. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: Behold, I tell you a mystery | | 24. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: Then shall be brought to pass | | 25. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: O death, where is thy sting? | | 26. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: But thanks be to God | | 27. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: If God be for us | | 28. | Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Part Three: Worthy is the Lamb...Amen | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 34 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 "Their Sound is Gone Out"Dec 17, 2000
By E. A. Lovitt
"starmoth"
I used to sing in Handel's "Messiah" every year under a succession of very good conductors, and so became familiar with the dynamics, mood, and color of the choruses and arias. I also own several recordings of "Messiah", and I'd like to say that this version with Andrew Davis conducting is by far my favorite. Each separate chorus or aria is carefully sung and colored by beautiful orchestration. When Kathleen Battle floats into her part of the duet, "He shall feed his flock", she and her music will make you believe in angels, no matter what your religious inclination.
The chorus achieves that very special and disciplined baroque sound. Their dynamics are perfect and they skip tunefully through some of Handel's most fiendish choruses (I don't care how many times we sang "His Yoke Is Easy" or "All We Like Sheep" - one section, usually the sopranos, either fell behind the rest of us or mumbled the words).
Lastly, I'd like to single out John Aler, the tenor, and Samuel Ramey, the bass, as performing the highlights of this recording, for me. Aler has that clear, flexible, brilliant head voice that is so essential for the Handelian repetoire. Ramey is THE perfect coloratura bass, and he proves it again on this CD. I wish I could find a recording of him in Handel's "Rinaldo".
19 of 22 found the following review helpful:
This is the "Messiah" You WantAug 25, 2000
By R. W. Rasband
Forget the "original instruments" versions. You want a big, rich (but not bombastic) "Messiah." This is the version you want. It's light but not insubstantial, gorgeous but not overblown and truly majestic as you imagine the sound should be. Plus Ramey and Battle are in great form. The perfect Christmas gift.
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
The Standard for All Other Messiah Recordings.Apr 12, 2005
By Choir Director
I have performed the Messiah many times - as a soloist, choir member and conductor. This CD sets the standard for all other recordings of the Messiah. The orchestra under Andrew Davis performs with a wide range of emotion, the soloists are brilliant (adding just enough ornamentation to the music to make it enjoyable - not unrecognizable), and the choir is magnificant. A wonderful collaboration of talent. Well done!
17 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Good, not greatDec 03, 2004
By Robert Sherman
I own 34 complete Messiah CD recordings, and various excerpts and vinyl versions. In my view, this recording is world-best at only three points: Kathleen Battle's "If God Be For Us" and "And Lo the Angel of the Lord", and the final "Hallelujah", which I splice on to the otherwise better second Marriner version. Battle's "Rejoice" is fine, but she uses exactly the same concept in three recordings, and her execution here is the weakest of the three. She does it better on her recital disk with Marriner, and better still on her "Grace" recital disk. I find Ramey disappointing; such a great voice, but no intensity in this music, and his "eye" sound is too much like "oy". The other soloists, as well as the chorus and orchestra, are competent but not remarkable. For other modern-instrument Messiahs, either of the Davis or Marriner recordings are better,and Westenberg is supreme, as is the Shaw choral excerpt disk from 1966.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Trans-Atlantic "Messiah"Sep 23, 2004
By Erik North
George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" is almost certainly the single most popular choral work in the whole of Western classical music, and, not surprisingly, there have been dozens upon dozens of recordings of it over the decades, by modern symphonic orchestras, period-instrument players, and chamber orchestras alike. This 1987 recording is one of the best of the symphonic type recordings of the work.
With a quartet of American soloists (Kathleen Battle; Florence Quivar; John Aler; Samuel Ramey), a fine British conductor in Sir Andrew Davis, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, one of Canada's greatest symphonic and choral ensembles, this recording of "Messiah" is brilliantly recorded, with the choir in brilliant form under chorus master Elmer Iseler, and the orchestra giving its all. Davis takes the approach of giving us a grand "Messiah" as close to what Handel originally had in mind when he composed it in 1742, but avoids all the orchestral embellishments made to the work since then, including the still-controversial embellishments made by Sir Eugene Goosens for Sir Thomas Beecham in Beecham's 1959 Royal Philharmonic recording.
The result is a "Messiah" that can stand up to ones made in decades past by legends like Eugene Ormandy, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Georg Solti, and Raymond Leppard. It is vigorously recommended for all seasons, and not just Easter or Christmas.
See all 34 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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