Accurate English

The performance here of Samson is definitive. It is lively, colourful and highly dramatic. There is no comparison with the tedious performance by the Sixteen on Coro. The performance of the Messiah with limited modern instrumental forces of the English Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with very good soloists doesn't sacrifice grandeur nor does it go to the other extreme of over-blown pomp. It is a very good performamce on modern instruments under the direction of the Baroque music specialist conductor Raymond Leppard.

This is a wonderful performance, certainly without the digital fidelity, given the record date (1969), but for the same reason, with the warmth that many miss in the digital coldness. But the greater excellence of this version lies in the marvelous and powerful female voices: Helen Watts (Dame of the British Empire), the African-Amerincan Reri Grist (Bohm choice for Mozart and Strauss), and above all the huge canadian contralto Maureen Forrester. Simply marvelous, for those that love real music.

Leclair's single opera Scylla et Glaucus may lack the sheer audacity of his teacher Rameau, but it's enormously likeable…the performers respond…stylishly to Leclair's charming if slightly predictable sound-world…and the conducting preserves a neat balance between drama and ornament…It is clear that Gardiner favours intervention over chilly authenticity; whether or not you agree with all his decisions, the clarity of the image he presents is often provocative and always bracing.