MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: The Messiah (highlights)

Since founding The Academy of Ancient Music in 1973, Christopher Hogwood has gained international recognition as a pioneer in the field of "authentic" music making - but the adjective is one of which he is wary, and he is the first to reject any suggestion that his performances seek to make categorical pronouncements about a "correct" way of playing music of the Baroque and Classical periods. "Historically informed" is the description he prefers - and the same principle can be applied with equal justification throughout his very broad conducting activities, which are not restricted to early instrument ensembles nor to purely Baroque and Classical programmes.