Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Handel - Messiah - Klemperer, Schwarzkopf,Hoffman,Gedda,Hines,PO



Handel - Messiah - Klemperer, Schwarzkopf,Hoffman,Gedda,Hines,PO
Vocal | Ape, cue | no log, cover | 2 CD, 758 MB
September 12, 1990 | EMI | RapidShare


If you like your Messiah to be big and huge, then this one is it my friends! Unfortunately the executives at EMI have discontinued it.

The opening and closing moments are something to marvel at, and the stereo sound is great. With every aria or recitative in Klemperer's Messiah, he has you listening with great attention (at least for me anyway). The cast is so good, and you can tell that they really wanted to make this a great recording. The Philharmonia chorus is directed by Wilhelm Pitz (from the Bayreuth Festival). They sing with the power and thunder of a volcano, and the sweet hush of a spring breeze. Mind you, with full, clean and clear articulation. The overall interpretation is so arch-like that it is similar to the way Klemperer does Bach's Mass in B. It's really rare how well he understands the score compared to the millions of cheap Messiah's recordings out there!

This Klemperer character never ceases to amaze me, and this Messiah I will now place at the top of my Messiah's list.

This Messiah is only for those who like their Messiah's grand and noble, and played with great stength. Not at all for the period performance lover with period style practice. This is for Klemperer lovers who want to love him even more!

If you ever find it, I highly recommend getting it! --Amazon


CD Content
Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56
Composed by George Frideric Handel
Performed by Philharmonia Chorus, London Philharmonia Orchestra
with Jerome Hines, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Grace Hoffmann, Nicolai Gedda
Conducted by Otto Klemperer

3 comments:

  1. True, the execs at EMI may appear to be fools for letting this one go unavailable. But it IS available as a CD reissue at ArkivMusic, so perhaps contractual obligations related to that reissue (presumably done with EMI knowledge and consent) may now limit EMI's own reissue.

    In any case, THANK YOU for making this available. I have been cherishing, and playing with very great care, my original stereo LPs, now decades old!

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  2. I couldn't agree more about this recording. I've heard other good recordings of this piece but none of them move me the way this does. I was lucky enough to get the CD when it was issued and I recently acquired a copy of the LP on the original blue label. I just can't get enough copies of this.

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