Opera January 2004

George Frideric Handel - Messiah
Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra / Robert Shaw
EAC+LOG+CUE | 2x CD, FLAC: 723 MB | Artwork: 35 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Red Seal # 082876-62317-2 | Country/Year: US 2004, 1966
Genre: Classical, Historical Recording | Style: Baroque, Oratorio, Sacred

Recorded in 1966, Robert Shaw's Grammy Award-winning performance of Handel's Messiah marks an important turning-point in this work's interpretation, clearly moving away from the ponderous, overly reverential style of early twentieth century renditions and pointing toward the leaner versions of the 1970s onwards, which follow Baroque-period practices. (…) Evenly divided between two discs, this recording of Messiah is complete, and it is preferred over RCA's 1992 excerpt album The Great Choruses from Messiah.

Here we have the first complete recording of Gluck's charming one-act serenata teatrale for chamber orchestra and four treble voices, composed for the marriage of Hapsburg Archduke Joseph in January 1765. The Archduke's first wife had died. This time he was to marry the Bavarian princess, Maria Josepha. For this performance of the new Gluck work, four of the Archduke's daughters from his first marriage who were all accomplished musicians, sang roles in the new work. The new bridegroom's younger brother Leopold, conducted. That the four Archduchesses could successfully negotiate the florid soprano roles Gluck fashioned for them, is most impressive.

Florent Pagny (b. 6 November 1961 in Chalon-sur-Saône, Saône-et-Loire) is a French musician. He has also acted in many French films. He records work in French, Italian, Spanish and English, and his greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer", "Ma Liberté de penser" (all three were #1 in France) and "Caruso" (#2 in France). As of 2008, he has sold 4,268,980 copies of singles, 7,273,606 copies of albums and total over 11,542,586 copies of records in France, he was the 25th best selling artist in France from 1955 to 2008. more …

Although it's difficult for those who weren't there to believe, for a short time during late 1965 and early 1966 the popularity of this singing quartet from Australia was sufficient to rival the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Seekers were at the head of the British Invasion's acoustic folk-rock division, right there with Peter & Gordon and Chad & Jeremy but without the personal Beatles connection of the former, and more successful than either they scored a string of number one hits in England and Top Ten successes in the U.S. that lasted into 1967, two years later than most of the rest of the British exports to America.