COMPOSERS: Handel
LABELS: Erato
WORKS: Messiah; La resurrezione
PERFORMER: Soloists; The Sixteen, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra/Ton Koopman
CATALOGUE NO: 0630-17765-2 1985/91
Ton Koopman’s live recording of Messiah is beautifully polished and elegant. His fine team of soloists is matched in the choruses by exquisitely balanced contributions from The Sixteen. Overall, Koopman projects an impressive sense of dramatic shape, but I would have preferred greater exuberance in the jubilant numbers. A strong cast – pitting Barbara Schlick’s outstanding representation of the Angel against Klaus Mertens’s aptly weighty Lucifer – makes La resurrezione a splendid companion piece, although here the recording could be clearer and fuller. Nicholas Rast
Handel: Messiah; La resurrezione
Ton Koopman’s live recording of Messiah is beautifully polished and elegant. His fine team of soloists is matched in the choruses by exquisitely balanced contributions from The Sixteen. Overall, Koopman projects an impressive sense of dramatic shape, but I would have preferred greater exuberance in the jubilant numbers. A strong cast – pitting Barbara Schlick’s outstanding representation of the Angel against Klaus Mertens’s aptly weighty Lucifer – makes La resurrezione a splendid companion piece, although here the recording could be clearer and fuller. Nicholas Rast
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm