Egypt

Teaming with Greg Kurstin – a producer best-known for helming Adele's Grammy-winning 25, but also a musician in his own right, collaborating with Inara George in the savvy retro duo the Bird and the Bee – is a signal from Paul McCartney that he intends Egypt Station, his 18th solo album, to be a thoroughly modern affair. It is, but not in the way that the glitzy 2013 album New, with its fair share of Mark Ronson productions, was…

Mackerras's recording probably introduced a whole new generation to the once familiar magnificence of Israel in Egypt, and in the normal run of gramophone history it would enjoyed a kinder fate than to be superseded within five years by the Christ Church, Oxford recording under Simon Preston (Argo ZRG817/8, 4/76). That in turn has had to face competition from a similarly intense virtuoso performance under John Eliot Gardiner (Erato STU71245, 1/80). Compared with these, Mackerras's version is milder, less sharply etched in detail, less dramatic in impact. Even so, it is firmly directed, with fine orchestral playing and spirited choral work. It may well appeal afresh to listeners who feel they have had just a bit too much of conductors who burn so bright that their individuality tends to focus attention upon the performance rather than the work. The work itself, of course, has its own fire. Despite borrowings from Stradella and others, the inspiration is white-hot, and in the Plague choruses of Part 1 and ''The people shall hear'', in Part 2, Mackerras's forces rise worthily to the occasion.

– Gramophone

The Dream Concert: Live from the Great Pyramids of Egypt is the seventh live album and concert video by contemporary instrumentalist Yanni, officially released on June 3, 2016. The two concerts were performed outdoors on October 30 and 31, 2015, on the grounds of the Egyptian pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza, Yanni's first performance in Egypt.

Like so many artists today, John Eliot Gardiner has recorded his work more than once, and as also so often happens, the remake isn't as good as the original. Not only did Gardiner's first version include a more interesting coupling (the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline, which Handel later adapted to become part one of Israel in Egypt), but it had a much better lineup of soloists. Here he suffers from a surfeit of strangulated British countertenors–one of the more frightening breeds of musical animal that has sprung up as a result of the authentic instrument movement, never mind that Handel almost never wrote for one. Enough said–if you want Gardiner in this music, then get him on Erato. –David Hurwitz

This project is based on Israel in Egypt, one of the best-known and most popular oratorios by Georg Friedrich Handel, and has been created on the basis of the common history and roots of three religions; Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Musicians from the (Western) European Baroque tradition (Baroque orchestra and choir), and hence from a Christian background, are joined by musicians from Jewish and Muslim backgrounds. The basic musical form of Handel’s oratorio and its narrative structure remains untouched, for the most parts.

English conductor Harry Christophers was educated at the Canterbury Cathedral Choir School and Magdalen College, Oxford. He founded The Sixteen, the choral ensemble with their accompanying instrumental ensemble, in 1977. The Sixteen performs with an emphasis on early English polyphony, but also in a varied repertoire from the Renaissance to contemporary composers. He has led The Sixteen on tours throughout Europe, America, and the Far East, and on over 70 recordings.