Handel - Messiah - Cleobury - King's College - AAM (DVD, 2009)

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Handel - Messiah - Cleobury - King's College - AAM (DVD, 2009)

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Handel: Messiah (2009)
2h 39min | 2DVD | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 16:9 | PCM stereo / Dolby DTS 5.0 / DTS 5.0 | subtitles: en, fr, de, es, it | 10.55GB
DVDrip | 2 x AVI 1.08GB (1/4DVD) | XVID 1394/2130 kbps | 720 x 480 | MP3 VBR ~294kbps | subtitles: IDX/SUB file | 2.26GB
Stephen Cleobury - Choir of King's College, Cambridge - Academy of Ancient Music
Ailish Tynan (soprano) - Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano) - Allan Clayton (tenor) - Matthew Rose (bass)

This EMI recording is the third Messiah that Cleobury and the King's College Choir have done, made during the 2009 Easter at King's season of concerts. As a fan of King's I find this an extremely satisfying recording of the work, and Cleobury and the King's Choir are in fine form as they have always been.

Cleobury has had a wonderful musical love affair of the King's College Choir since he started conducting them in 1982. In fact he has built on the superb work of Sir David Willcocks, who made a wonderful all-male King's Messiah for EMI in 1972. When one listens to this recording, one is struck by the consistency of Cleobury's approach. Yet he has also matured and mellowed in the way he conducts the work. Cleobury adopts brisk tempi like in his previous versions but yet he infuses his performance with slightly more gravitas. I'm struck by the stark seriousness of Behold the Lamb of God and He was despised, as they're quite effective at his chosen speeds. His Choir sings superbly, and this crop of choristers and choral scholars is arguably one of his best overall teams in recent years. The choruses are characterful, with wonderful, melodious and well-balanced singing. They are crisp, alert and dynamic especially in For unto us and the Hallelujah chorus, except that I would have liked there to be a faster tempo for And the glory of the Lord (i.e. conducted at one in a bar like the Higginbottom version). The team of soloists is very fine, and they sing as superbly as their counterparts on the earlier recordings (the Decca version and the live Pieterskerk version on Columns Classics.)

Oddly enough I found I liked the male soloists a little more than the female soloists. Allan Clayton is an extremely musical tenor in his solos, especially the opening Comfort ye recitative that leads into Every valley. It was a treat to hear him do the extended version of O death, where is thy sting when he duetted with Alice Coote. I rather liked Matthew Rose, as he seemed to sing his solos to the rafters and project his voice perfectly clearly. I especially liked his rendition of The trumpet shall sound, and he seemed to inspire the trumpet soloist who accompanied him in this aria. However, I felt a little uncomfortable with the female soloists, as I felt that their voices were a little heavy and had a little too much vibrato. Alice Coote's voice is motherly and very comforting, and her renditions of O thou that tellest and He was despised were tender and light, though I prefer Anne Sofie von Otter's versions on the Pinnock recording a little more. Alish Tynan's soprano solos are heartfelt but I must admit that even in her solo of I know that my Redeemer liveth she sounded as if she was singing the role of Brünnhilde rather than a Handel oratorio. Nevertheless she is just as musical as the other soloists on Cleobury's team. – Yi-Peng

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Handel - Messiah - Cleobury - King's College - AAM (DVD, 2009)

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Handel - Messiah - Cleobury - King's College - AAM (DVD, 2009)

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Handel - Messiah - Cleobury - King's College - AAM (DVD, 2009)

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Handel - Messiah - Cleobury - King's College - AAM (DVD, 2009)

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