Handel’s magnificent Messiah is the perfect marriage of theater and church, its choruses, arias, and recitatives, telling the Christmas and Easter stories, unrivaled 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.
- John Eliot Gardiner & Monteverdi Choir
- Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Harry Christophers, Lynda Russell, Mark Padmore, Michael George, The Sixteen & The Symphony of Harmony and Invention
- Alexander Blachly & Pomerium
- English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford & Tallis Chamber Choir
- Academy of Ancient Music, Paul Goodwin & The Choir of the AAM
- Pro Cantione Antiqua & James O' Donnell
- Sir David Willcocks, The Bach Choir & London Symphony Orchestra