Of all the hundreds, maybe thousands of versions of Handel's Messiah on the market, ranging from full symphonic treatments with big professional choirs to sober, earnest oratorio-society readings, to the various kinds of authentic-performance recordings, this 1959 performance by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Huddersfield Choral Society under Malcolm Sargent is notable for representing one extreme of the spectrum. This is Handelian gigantism at its most determined. You live in Liverpool and want to sing in a ...
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Of all the hundreds, maybe thousands of versions of Handel's Messiah on the market, ranging from full symphonic treatments with big professional choirs to sober, earnest oratorio-society readings, to the various kinds of authentic-performance recordings, this 1959 performance by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Huddersfield Choral Society under Malcolm Sargent is notable for representing one extreme of the spectrum. This is Handelian gigantism at its most determined. You live in Liverpool and want to sing in a big choir? Come on in; there's always room for one more. You want trombones, clarinets in the score? Fine, write 'em in. You're dismayed that these days the sun does indeed set on the British Empire? No need to worry; here's enough pomp and circumstance to last you another 50 years. The chief value of this disc is historical, and the sampler version may be preferable for listeners who don't want to sit through three discs' worth of choruses like "For unto us a child is born," which...
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