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Reviews: Handel: Messiah - Davis

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Reviews: 1

Review by Luukas April 7, 2015 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:    
This is my first SACD of Handel's "Messiah" and - at the same time - the first modern instruments choice. I've heard Trevor Pinnock's interpretation (DG Archiv) and unfortunately it is much better than this.
Firstly the good news. There were many great ideas and Davis brought his all knowledge to the performance. The opening sinfonia was slower than Pinnock's and I heard Davis' groaning during the peaceful prologue. The soloist - Susan Gritton, Sara Mingardo, Mark Padmore & Alastair Miles - were good team. Tenebrae Choir singed purely and beautifully - as always.
And then the bad news. The 5.1 surround sound was awful - Barbican's dry acoustics didn't worked with the work. St. Paul's Cathedral could be the better recording venue. The bonus DVD contained the video footage from the concert. Pretty nice picture and sound.

Overall results:
- Performance: **** (Too slow and smooth)
- Recording: ***1/2 (Stereo - with headphones only), **** (Multi-channel - with my surround playback system)
- Packaging: ****1/2 (The bonus DVD arrived with separate case)

PENTATONE will release Karl Richter's famous 1970s recording in quad. I guess that it will be much better. I'm looking forward...

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