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HANDEL, G.F.: Messiah (Gauvin, Blaze, Muller, Polegato, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra, Taurins)

Composer(s):Handel, George Frideric
Artist(s)
Period(s) Baroque (1600-1750)
Genre Classical Music
Category Choral - Sacred
Catalogue TMK1016CD2
Label Tafelmusik
Quality   320kbps
Album Price
 
CD
USD 24.99
 

 
FLAC
USD 21.98
 

 
MP3
USD 19.98
 

 

   




Review By Lynn René Bayley,Fanfare,March 2013

I consider this to be, for me, the overall best Messiah I’ve ever heard…

What characterizes this, for me, as a terrific Messiah is that it flows, has continuity…both singing and playing are highly detailed, lyrical, yet energetic when it counts, that the solos blend into the choruses flawlessly at every point, and in general that this performance combines splendid scholarship with a really great, rousing, we-actually-sound-as-if-we’re-enjoying-ourselves atmosphere.

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Review By Steven Ritter,Audiophile Audition,January 2013

…we are given a performance that is just littered with infused dynamics and all sorts of tempo changes that are nowhere in Handel’s score; I find it extremely refreshing, and am very happy that these folks have the guts to impose their own interpretative ideas on us…Each of the soloists here are excellent, though Robin Blaze’s countertenor can be a little strident on high held notes. Otherwise he has very good technique and good power for the voice. I enjoyed this recording immensely… © 2013 Audiophile Audition Read complete review



Review By John Terauds,Musical Toronto,December 2012

Tafemusik Chamber Choir music director Ivars Taurins has been leading Tafelmusik’s annual performances of Handel’s evergreen 270-year-old oratorio for a generation, steadily honing the group’s historically informed performances into paragons of taste and individuality.

The ultimate success of a Messiah depends on the soloists as much as the orchestra and chorus. Tafelmusik struck vocal gold a year ago with brilliant Montreal soprano Karina Gauvin, British countertenor Robin Blaze, New York City-based tenor Rufus Müller and Toronto’s own magnificent bass-baritone Brett Polegato.

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Review By Phil Muse,Audio Video Club of Atlanta,December 2012

So why should you hear this latest Messiah, recorded live on December 14 to 17, 2011 at Koerner Hall in Toronto? Well, there are plenty of reasons. To begin with, this is an exceptionally smooth performance in which all the elements are well integrated, the product of a director and ensemble that have been doing their thing since Ivars Taurins found the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir in 1981. That includes a full quarter-century’s tradition of performing Messiah as an annual event. There is a nice balance between the 24 voices in the chorus and the number of instrumentalists, 24 plus continuo organ. The vocalists are all top-rate, too. Karina Gauvin is exquisite in the soprano arias such as “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion” and her wonderful, heart-melting duet

The latter, in the alto role, is more satisfying than any counter-tenor I can recall hearing in this part. That type of male voice has been known to set my teeth on edge, something I happily did not experience when listening to his well-modulated voice with its graciously soft glow. It went well in the alto part, which, as Handel conceived it, carries so much of the message of comfort in this work. Tenor Rufus Müller is authoritative and direct in such key passages as the accompagnato “Comfort ye, my people” and the following aria “Ev’ry valley shall be exalted.”…there is much to savor here in the voices.

The big choruses such as “Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth” and “Worthy is the Lamb” are grand and glorious without overwhelming the sound of your teenager’s video games. © 2012 Audio Video Club of Atlanta Read complete review

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Review By Hans de Groot,The WholeNote,November 2012

The new Tafelmusik recording holds up well. The orchestra and choir are excellent. As for the soloists, tenor Rufus Müller is very good, baritone Brett Polegato is outstanding and soprano Karina Gauvin is out of this world.

This recording is new…and it is also the first live recording of the orchestra. I hope that there will be many more. The achievements of Tafelmusik have been immense and further recordings should bring them to the attention of a wider audience. © 2012 The WholeNote Read complete review



Review By Infodad.com,November 2012

A performance as good as Tafelmusik’s is welcome at any time of year, and in any year…this Messiah is assembled from 2011 live performances conducted by Ivars Taurins, who is director of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and who shows here that he can handle the orchestra…just as well as the voices.  Hearing Messiah on period instruments is always a pleasure, and Tafelmusik plays these instruments as if they are the most natural things in the world, with no apparent struggles or difficulties of adjustment or intonation at all. The four soloists are all very fine as well, all quite comfortable with period ornamentation, and with countertenor Robin Blaze having a particularly sweet and well-modulated voice. The result is a Messiah that can

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