Handel – Messiah (1751 Version) [1996]

CD 1
1. Part I: Sinfonia 3:04
2. Part I: Accompanied recitative: Comfort ye, my people (Tenor) 3:16
3. Part I: Aria: Every valley shall be exalted (Tenor) 3:19
4. Part I: Chorus: And the glory of the Lord 2:32
5. Part I: Accompanied recitative: Thus saith the Lord of Hosts (Bass) 1:27
6. Part I: Aria: But who may abide the day of His coming (Countertenor) 4:31
7. Part I: Chorus: And He shall purify 2:32
8. Part I: Recitative: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son (Countertenor) 0:24
9. Part I: Aria and Chorus: O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (Countertenor) 5:41
10. Part I: Accompanied recitative: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (Bass) 2:11
11. Part I: Aria: The people that walked in darkness (Bass) 3:34
12. Part I: Chorus: For unto us a Child is born 3:52
13. Part I: Pifa 2:14
14. Part I: Accompanied recitative: There were shepherds abiding in the field (Trebles) 1:28
15. Part I: Chorus: Glory to God in the highest 2:15
16. Part I: Aria: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (Tenor) 4:06
17. Part I: Recitative: Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (Countertenor) 0:24
18. Part I: Aria: He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Countertenor, Treble) 4:54
19. Part I: Chorus: His yoke is easy, His burthen is light 2:14
20. Part II: Chorus: Behold, the Lamb of God 2:55
21. Part II: Aria: He was despised and rejected of men (Countertenor) 12:21

CD 2
1. Part II: Chorus: Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows 2:03
2. Part II: Chorus: And with His stripes we are healed 1:55
3. Part II: Chorus: All we like sheep have gone astray 3:34
4. Part II: Accompanied recitative: All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn (Tenor) 0:42
5. Part II: Chorus: He trusted in God that He would deliver Him 2:20
6. Part II: Accompanied recitative: Thy rebuke hath broken His heart (Tenor) 1:47
7. Part II: Aria: Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow (Tenor) 1:33
8. Part II: Accompanied recitative: He was cut off out of the land of the living (Treble) 0:18
9. Part II: Aria: But thou didst not leave His soul in hell (Treble) 1:59
10. Part II: Chorus: Lift up your heads, O ye gates 3:09
11. Part II: Recitative: Unto which of the angels said He at any time (Tenor) 0:19
12. Part II: Chorus: Let all the angels of God worship Him 1:40
13. Part II: Aria: Thou art gone up on high (Countertenor) 3:10
14. Part II: Chorus: The Lord gave the word 1:12
15. Part II: Aria: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace (Treble) 2:18
16. Part II: Chorus: Their sound is gone out into all lands 1:32
17. Part II: Aria: Why do the nations so furiously rage together (Bass) 2:49
18. Part II: Chorus: Let us break their bonds asunder 1:53
19. Part II: Recitative: He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn (Tenor) 0:10
20. Part II: Aria: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron (Tenor) 2:17
21. Part II: Chorus: Hallelujah 3:58
22. Part III: Aria: I know that my redeemer liveth (Treble) 5:49
23. Part III: Chorus: Since by man came death 2:04
24. Part III: Accompanied recitative: Behold, I tell you a mystery (Bass) 0:38
25. Part III: Aria: The trumpet shall sound (Bass) 8:38
26. Part III: Recitative: Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written (Countertenor) 0:16
27. Part III: Duet: O death, where is thy sting (Countertenor and Tenor) 1:06
28. Part III: Chorus: But thanks be to God 2:11
29. Part III: Aria: If God is for us, who can be against us (Countertenor) 4:52
30. Part III: Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain 3:18
31. Part III: Chorus: Amen 3:35

Henry Jenkinson, Otta Jones, Robert Brooks - Trebles
Iestyn Davies - countertenor
Toby Spence - tenor
Eamonn Dougan – bass

Academy of Ancient Music
Choir of New College Oxford
Edward Higginbottom – conductor

Many early music performers strive to re-create the style and expressions of a certain period, working within a consensus of opinions on what constitutes authentic performance practice. But some go quite a bit further and reproduce a work with all the known details of instrumentation and the specific features of a historic performance. Not only have Edward Higginbottom and the excellent Academy of Ancient Music reconstructed the well-documented 1751 version of George Frideric Handel's Messiah, but they have performed it with the superb New College Choir, Oxford, gifted virtuoso vocalists such as tenor Toby Spence and bass Eamon Dougan, along with trebles Henry Jenkinson, Otta Jones, Robert Brooks, and countertenor Iestyn Davies, following Handel's employment of men and boys in his London performances. As much as anyone can make the Messiah sound authentic, like a living, breathing, organic work of the eighteenth century -- played on original instruments with the highest musicality, and with all the refinements of Baroque embellishment and improvisation -- Higginbottom and his skillful musicians make this overly familiar oratorio seem utterly revived with their fresh sounding timbres and the choir's lighter voices; and they deliver it with the vitality, passion, beauty, and excitement that might make one forget, if not exactly forgive, what the stodgy Victorians and their pious ilk did to this vibrant masterpiece. Considering the vast array of historically informed recordings available, listeners in search of a great version can rest assured that this is one of the absolute best, and be grateful that Naxos has given this project such lavish production values and its finest engineering. This exquisite presentation of Messiah is recommended as one of the finest recordings of 2006. --- Blair Sanderson, Rovi

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