Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sinfonia | |||
| 2. 2. Comfort Ye, My People/3. Every Valley Shall Be Exalted | |||
| 3. 4. And The Glory Of The Lord | |||
| 4. 5. Thus Saith The Lord/6. But Who May Abide /7. And He Shall Purify | |||
| 5. 8. Behold, A Virgin Shall Conceive/9. O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion | |||
| 6. Messiah: Part One: 10. For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover The Earth - Bass Recitative; 11. The People That Walked In Darkness - Bass Air | |||
| 7. 12. For Unto Us A Child Is Born | |||
| 8. 13. Pifa - 'Pastoral Symphony'/14a. There Were Shepherds/14b. And Lo, The Angel Of The Lord Came Upon Them/15. And The Angel Said Unto Them/16. And Suddenly There Was With The Angel/17. Glory To God | |||
| 9. 18. Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion | |||
| 10. 19. Then Shall The Eyes Of The Blind | |||
See all 15 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. 25. And With His Stripes We Are Healed/26. All We Like Sheep | |||
| 2. 27. All They That See Him/28. He Trusted In God | |||
| 3. 29. Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart/30. Behold, And See If There Be Any Sorrow/31. He Was Cut Off Out Of The Land Of The Living/32. But Thou Didst Not Leave | |||
| 4. 33. Lift Up Your Heads | |||
| 5. 34. Unto Which Of The Angels/35. Let All The Angels Of God Worship Him | |||
| 6. 36. Thou Art Gone Up On High | |||
| 7. 37. The Lord Gave The Word | |||
| 8. 38. How Beautiful Are The Feet | |||
| 9. 39. Their Sound Is Gone Out | |||
| 10. 40. Why Do The Nations?/41. Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder | |||
|
See all 18 tracks on this disc
| |||
The recording sounds as if he simply picked up on the latest Baroque scholarship, and simply plodded along unquestioningly without any real musical judgement/discernment of his own.
What really surprises me is the ghastly (sorry, I can't find a more proper term!) diction at several spots: In "For Unto Us a Child is Born", we hear "Forrrr-runto wussa-chil-dis-bo-horn" (words and music terribly slurred together), and "The mighty God, the-yeaverlasting Father, the Princ-suv Peace"" - This is quite disappointing coming from a supposed master expert on choral singing.
Admittedly, Shaw's soloists are good - Richard Stilwell's singing of "Why Do the Nations?" is splendid, but he deserves a better accompaniment than the tinkling, underplayed effect that Shaw provides - compare this to the fiery, blazing rendition that Karl Richter gives on his London Philharmonic recording of 1972!
And most disturbing of all: after an entire 2, 1/2 hours of very legato choral singing, the final chorus on "Amen", suddenly breaks into a detached Baroque style (I was also very surprised to hear the chorus "Blessing and Honor" begin at a one tempo, and then slow down about 4 metronome degrees at mid-bar!).
As with any artist for which I do not feel a particular affinity, I keep going back to see if there is any merit in their performances; unfortunately, I can find little to recommend to this recording. The above mentioned Richter recording is vastly superior, and reflects a conductor not only with the technical mastery of both choral and orchestral forces, but also a profound stylistic sense which gives coherence to the work as a whole.
|
