[78-L] very unusual "Messiah"

[DAVID BURNHAM]

This will have a very tenuous connection to 78s but I have just listened to the 
most off-the-wall recording of "Messiah" imaginable.  David Lennick inspired me 
to listen to it because he mentioned in a post a few days ago the Westminster 
reissues on CD.  I purchased every Westminster reissue I could find several 
years ago and they are now languishing on a shelf in my cold cellar, (insulated 
so that it's no longer cold).  So I pulled out and listened for the first time 
to "Messiah" conducted by Hermann Scherchen.  I knew I was going to post this 
from the moment I heard the very weird treatment of the Overture.  I also 
planned that the second sentence would be, "The most bizarre moment in the 
recording has to be....."(whatever I was currently listening to).  So continuing 
in that vein, the most outlandish section of the recording has to be the final 
chorus.  Hermann Scherchen was generally known for his fast tempi and sections 
of this "Messiah" move along with haste.  However, other sections are sooooo 
sloooooow.  The final aria, "If God be for us...." and chorus, "Worthy is the 
Lamb, Amen", (I was going to say generally requiring 3 x 12 inch 78 sides but as 
far as I know, there was only ever one recording which included these numbers - 
Beecham, 1947;  and there's the tenuous 78 reference) are almost 24 minutes 
long, which would require 6 x 12 inch sides - the length of Schubert's 
Unfinished Symphony!  The "Amen" chorus itself is 8 and a half minutes long!! 
 Just to mention another extraordinary moment in the recording, "Worthy is the 
Lamb" begins with a quiet woodwind chord followed by the entry of a slow, almost 
whispering chorus - I've never heard another performance of this chorus which 
doesn't begin with a fortissimo chord by full orchestra and a very loud choral 
entry.  The previous aria, "If God be for us...." is almost 9 minutes long.  I 
won't go through it number by number but I think you get the idea.

I'm generally a huge fan of eccentric "Messiah"s and thoroughly enjoyed this 
one, but I'm surprised that any critical review I could find on this recording 
is positive, (except for some reservations on the soloists).  Nobody seemed to 
find this treatment objectionable.

db