Handel: Messiah (Complete oratorio)
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Messiah (Complete oratorio)
Lucy Crowe, Andrew Staples, Tim Mead, Christopher Purves / Le Concert d'Astrae, Emmanuelle Haim
[ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Monday 10 November 2014
Emmanuelle Haïm has established herself as one of the world's leading performers, conductors and interpreters of Baroque repertoire, not only with Le Concert d'Astrée, the ensemble she founded in 2000, but with several of the world's greatest orchestras. Known for her fresh and expressive approach to Baroque music, she has appeared as a guest conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Berliner Philharmoniker. With her own ensemble she has garnered critical acclaim and several international awards, including Victoires de la Musique Classique, ECHOs, Gramophone Awards, and Grammy nominations.
For this English-language recording of Handel's masterwork Messiah, Haïm is joined by the orchestra and chorus of Le Concert d'Astrée, as well as four outstanding English singers - Lucy Crowe, Tim Mead, Andrew Staples and Christopher Purves.
"Haïm herself proves broadly sensitive to tempo...and balance has been excellently managed in what is a resonant acoustic. Le Concert d'Astrée's chorus numbers 20...they also keep light on their collective feet. The 26-strong orchestra, too, supplies vitality as well as solemnity and flexibility." BBC Musicv
"Haïm directs the music with the same sort of Gallic lightness and grace that she absorbed during her early years with the French group Les Arts Florissants...The result is not as exhilarating as some, and sometimes a touch fussy, but Haïm finds expression wherever she looks and Le Concert d'Astrée respond keenly." Financial Times
"The delivery of the choruses is crisply focused and shaped impressively, Haïm sensibly opts to hire top-notch English freelancers...There are a small number of occasions when Haïm could have let the music speak more naturally for itself...Nevertheless, the fusion of dramatic mood, orchestral texture and an inspired soloist often pays off handsomely." Gramophone
