THIS ITEM IS LISTED AS A “SPECIAL ORDER” WHICH MAY NEED EXTRA TIME TO SHIP
Kerstin Avemo – Soprano
Patricia Bardon – Contralto
Lawrence Zazzo – Countertenor
Kobie van Rensburg – Tenor
Neal Davies – Bass-baritone
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge – Graham Ross
Freiburger Barockorchester
René Jacobs – Conductor
The paradoxes of Messiah.
After a magisterial interpretation of the highly theatrical Saul (Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, ‘Choc’ du Monde de la Musique, etc.), René Jacobs now turns his attention to Messiah, in the 1750 version with two alto soloists. Handel subjected the work to multiple revisions according to the solo singers he had available for his annual performances of it in London. However, this public acknowledgment of the work’s value came only some years after the oratorio’s triumphant premiere in Dublin on 13 April 1742: in order to win over London audiences Messiah had had to confront a cabal that was all the more unjustified in that Handel avoided all dramatisation of the person and Passion of Christ – the exact opposite of Saul, in a sense. But history has amply made up for lost time since then!