Masaaki Suzuki’s performance of Messiah grows from the words of Handel’s oratorio and their power to shift minds towards contemplating the enormity of the sacrifice of God’s son for mankind’s redemption. The recording’s Spatial Audio remastering enhances the sharpness of the storytelling and its cumulative emotional impact. Bach Collegium Japan’s choristers are simply superb. Listen to the crystal clarity of their diction in “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” or “His Yoke Is Easy,” helped in both cases by Suzuki’s judicious speeds and pinpoint precision from his period-instrument band, and the pure joy of their “Hallelujah!” Chorus. Suzuki’s soloists are also on fine form, with countertenor Yoshikazu Mera melting hearts with “He Was Despised and Rejected of Men,” and bass David Thomas channeling his inner Old Testament prophet in “The Trumpet Shall Sound.”