Recensie
Handel: Messiah
Choir of King's College Cambridge, Brandenburg Consort, Stephen Cleobury
opname 1993 Pieterskerk Leiden
2 cd
The Messiah was written at great speed by Handel during the winter of 1741–2, and received its first performance in Dublin in 1742, to great acclaim. Charles Jennens compiled the text from the Bible, and the work is cast in three sections. Although a success in Dublin, the work had a less than warm welcome when it was performed in London without its title, and called ‘a New Sacred Oratorio’ to avoid causing offence to the British public and press which was rather puritanical. This ruse failed however, and the press were hostile. Jennens and Handel also fell out, as Jennens felt that the composer hadn’t taken enough time and care over the music!
Messiah is the masterpiece of the English Baroque, and for 200 years has been performed by both professional and amateur choirs around the world. Handel’s gift for truly memorable tunes and (notwithstanding Jennens’s concerns) the care he took in setting the text has ensured that it has remained one of the most famous works ever composed.
Of this performance’s first release in 1994, Gramophone wrote: ‘Stephen Cleobury has opted for the “mature” score of Messiah, the one embracing four soloists (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass) as Handel revived it in 1752 and he has a strong line-up of soloists… Cleobury’s approach is often steeped in the traditional manner (for example the stately “And the glory”) whilst the Brandenburg Consort displays its immersion in another world.’
Choir of King's College Cambridge, Brandenburg Consort, Stephen Cleobury
opname 1993 Pieterskerk Leiden
2 cd
The Messiah was written at great speed by Handel during the winter of 1741–2, and received its first performance in Dublin in 1742, to great acclaim. Charles Jennens compiled the text from the Bible, and the work is cast in three sections. Although a success in Dublin, the work had a less than warm welcome when it was performed in London without its title, and called ‘a New Sacred Oratorio’ to avoid causing offence to the British public and press which was rather puritanical. This ruse failed however, and the press were hostile. Jennens and Handel also fell out, as Jennens felt that the composer hadn’t taken enough time and care over the music!
Messiah is the masterpiece of the English Baroque, and for 200 years has been performed by both professional and amateur choirs around the world. Handel’s gift for truly memorable tunes and (notwithstanding Jennens’s concerns) the care he took in setting the text has ensured that it has remained one of the most famous works ever composed.
Of this performance’s first release in 1994, Gramophone wrote: ‘Stephen Cleobury has opted for the “mature” score of Messiah, the one embracing four soloists (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass) as Handel revived it in 1752 and he has a strong line-up of soloists… Cleobury’s approach is often steeped in the traditional manner (for example the stately “And the glory”) whilst the Brandenburg Consort displays its immersion in another world.’
