[78-L] very unusual "Messiah"

[David Lennick]

I'm trying to remember when I referred to any Westminster CD reissues in the 
last ten years, but anything's possible. The only ones I've ever seen have been 
in the Decca Double Decker series, a line which was in the stores for about 
five minutes.

Don't forget Eric Idle's "Not The Messiah".

dl

On 3/6/2011 1:45 PM, DAVID BURNHAM wrote:
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> db
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