Handel’s magnificent Messiah is the perfect marriage of theatre and church, its choruses, arias and recitatives, telling the Christmas and Easter stories, unrivalled in their dramatic and musical invention. Each number—from the stately tenor solo “Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted” and the fizzing “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” to the great “Hallelujah Chorus”—is Handel at his brilliant best. There have been hundreds of recordings over the decades, but few are as fresh and spontaneous as this classic 1997 interpretation, conductor Paul McCreesh’s singers and players bringing the joy of this dependable masterpiece to compelling life. Remastered in Spatial Audio in 2021, this beautifully shaped performance sounds as electrifying as ever.
- The Tallis Scholars & Peter Phillips
- Andrew Smith, Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, Frances Kelly & Timothy Morris
- Concentus Musicus Wien, Gustav Leonhardt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt & Ton Koopman
- Andrew Parrott, New London Chamber Choir, Taverner Consort & Players & Henrietta Barnett School Choir
- Concerto Köln, Frankfurt Vocal Ensemble, Ralf Otto, New Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Michael Erxleben, Rostocker Motet Choir, Leipzig Capella Fidicinia, Hartwig Eschenburg, Jochen Kowalski, Studio Orchestra, Martin Lücker, Reinhold Friedrich, Leipzig Thomaner Choir, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, Klaus Mertens, Martin Flämig, Dresdner Kreuzchor, Michael Winkler, Edward H. Tarr, Axel Köhler, Lautten Compagney, RIAS Chamber Chorus, RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Sängerknaben, Peter Marschik, Wiener Volksoper Orchestra, Janos Balint, Deborah Sipkai, Blechbläserensemble, Christine Schornsheim, Eckart Haupt, Siegfried Pank, Helmut Froschauer, Cologne Radio Chorus, Cologne Radio Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, David Cordier, Marcus Creed, Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert, Hermann Max, Frank Berger, Hans-Dieter Weber, Christoph Prégardien, Pal Nemeth, Capella Savaria, Peter Dicke, Dietrich Kollmannsperger, Monica Groop, Hermann Prey, Studio ensemble, Roland Büchner, Regensburg Cathedral Choir, Ruth Ziesak, Edita Gruberová, Helmut Winschermann, German Bach Soloists, Hannes Kästner, Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden, Tölzer Boys Choir, Max Emanuel Cencic, Charles Humphries, Academy of London, Béla Bánfalvi & Budapest Strings
- Pro Cantione Antiqua & James O' Donnell