Handel: Messiah, Arias & Choruses, Solti (CD)
Handel: Messiah, Arias & Choruses, Solti (CD)
“Chorus where the exultant sound lifts one’s heart, but in all the fast choruses where the singers stay precisely with Solti’s baton all the way . . . the vocal quartet is excellent, most notably Dame Kiri.” — Chicago Tribune
Until 1984, Sir Georg Solti had never conducted any of George Frideric Handel’s choral works. The rehearsals and performances leading to the recording of his Messiah marked Solti’s first with the work, regarded among the best recordings of the work today. With an orchestra of 40 joined by nearly 100 singers from the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Solti maintains crisp linear momentum throughout, achieving a full sound for the majestic choruses and something more delicate for Handel’s gentler moments.
Handel Messiah
Sir Georg Solti conductor
Kiri Te Kanawa soprano
Anne Gjevang alto
Keith Lewis tenor
Gwynne Howell bass
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis director
October 1984, Orchestra Hall, Chicago
Track Listing:
- Accompagnato: “Comfort ye, My people”
- Air: “Ev’ry Valley shall be exalted”
- Chorus: “And the glory of the Lord”
- Chorus: “For unto us a Child is born”
- “And suddenly there was . . . Glory to God in the highest”
- “Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion”
- Duet: “He shall feed his flock”
- Chorus: “Behold the Lamb of God”
- Chorus: “Lift up your heads”
- Air: “How beautiful are the feet”
- Air: “Why do the nations . . . Thou shalt break with them . . .”
- Chorus: “Hallelujah”
- “I know that my Redeemer liveth”
- “Behold, I tell you . . . The Trumpet shall sound”
- “Worthy is the Lamb . . . Blessing and honour”
Discs: 1
Record Label: London
Release Date: October 16, 1990