This is a curious CD. There is no useful information
in the cased booklet as to the date and location of the performance,
and precious little about anything else. The source appears to be a
1976 Erato disc – almost certainly a complete Messiah – and
the question arises whether so frequently recorded and performed a work
really justifies a ‘highlights’ disc. If so this is not the one to choose.
It gallops through 19 numbers in 73, minutes so one gets a fairly large
helping of plums; but in a work of this magnitude a miss is as good
as a mile.
The distinguished soloists are in good voice, the choral
sections well focused and the orchestra is kept on its toes; but what
puts this whistle-stop tour of Messiah out of court are its forced
climaxes and absurdly fast tempi. A certain lack of baroque authenticity
would be acceptable had Leppard not decided to replace the over-stuffed
sound that, until recently, characterises other interpretations by a
performance that does scant justice either to Handel or his own talented
forces. As everybody knows, Messiah is a narrative that relies
for its splendour and perennial durability on the dramatic continuity
that it brings to the story. We are now used to compilations of juicy
bits from ‘classical masterpieces’, but even one who has never heard
Messiah might feel rather short changed by this lightning tour
and start to wonder what all the fuss is about.
Roy Brewer
