Handel - The Messiah - McCreesh (1997) torrent

Music : Classical : Lossless
Super-energetic Messiah from McCreesh

After the slow and stately Richter, here is something altogether different.

This is one of my favourite Messiahs, although it's not like most of the competition. A friend of mine calls this the Espresso Messiah, because Paul McCreesh routinely chooses very high tempi for the allegro parts. Luckily, though, the Gabrielis are more than up to the challenge, and the whole thing has a joie de vivre that is hard to surpass.

This presents, more or less, the 1754 Foundling Hospital version of Messiah, with a large-ish orchestra and the 1754 distribution of arias and choruses, with the notable difference, that "But who may abide", usually taken by an alto or bass, here is transposed a fourth up to coincide with the key of the following chorus, and is therefore sung by a soprano.

The excellent line up is as follows:

Dorothea Roschmann, soprano I
Susan Gritton, soprano II
Bernarda Fink, contralto
Charles Daniels, tenor
Neal Davies, bass

Gabrieli Consort and Players (on period instuments)
Paul McCreesh, conductor

Cover scans included!
Enjoy!!