Handel Messiah 2CD

Sir Malcolm Sargent (conductor). Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As Musicians continually reinterpret this great opus that Handel left to posterity, it is accepted that Messiah can be performed in more than one way. Much has been written about the merits of the different versions. Claude Debussy once remarked that it is amazing that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony had not been buried under the prose it had provoked. The same is true of Messiah, which in spite of its changing views as to how it should be presented, remains the most beloved and most often performed oratorio ever composed

Selections: Part I: Overture, Recit - "Comfort Ye", Air - "Every Valley", Chorus - "And The Glory of the Lord Shall be Revealed", Recit - "Thus Saith The Lord", Air - "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming", Chorus - "And He Shall Purify", Recit - "Behold! A Virgin Shall Conceive", Air - "O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion", Recit - "For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover The Earth", Air - "The People That Walked In Darkness", Chorus - "For Unto Us A Child Is Born", Pifa (Pastoral Symphony), Recit - "There Were Shepherds Abiding In The Field", Recit - "And Lo The Angel", Recit - "And The Angel Said Unto Them", Recit - "For Unto You", Recit - "And Suddenly There Was With The Angel", Chorus - "Glory To God", Air - "Rejoice Greatly O Daughter of Zion", Recit - "Then Shall The Eyes Of The Blind Be Open'd", Air - "He Shall Feed His Flock Like A Shepherd", Chorus - "His Yoke Is Easy", Chorus - "Behold The Lamb of God".

Seletions: Part II: Air - "He Was Despised", Chorus - "Surely He Haith Borne Our Griefs", Chorus - "All We, Like Sheep Have Gone Astray", Recit - "All That They See Him to Scorn", Chorus - "He Trusted In God That He Would Deliver Him", Recit - "Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart", Air - "Behold And See If There Be Any Sorrow", Recit - "He Was Cut Off Out Of The Land Of The Living", Air - "But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul in Hell", Chorus - "Who Is The King Of Glory", Chorus - "The Lord Gave The Word", Air - "How Beautiful Are The Feet Of Them", Chorus - "Their Sound Is Gone Out Into All Lands", Air - "Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage", Chorus - "Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder", Recit - "He that Dwelleth in Heaven", Air - "Thou Shalt Break Them", Chorus - "Hallelujah!".

Selections: Part III: Air - "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth", Chorus - "Since By Man Came Death", Recit - "Behold, I Tell You A Mystery", Air - "The Trumpet Shall Sound", Chorus - "Worthy Is The Lamb", Chorus - "Amen".