TL;DR: I sifted through thirty hours of MESSIAH recordings to find the best recordings of each number so you don't have to, link in the comments.

This is posted two months before New Year's for a reason. I want this to be available for the holiday season.

If you have ever thought "Man, I love some parts of this recording of Handel's Messiah, but other parts want me to lose my ears," then I have hopefully come to your rescue.

For the past 8 years, I have acquired four recordings of Handel's Messiah that have been highly regarded in the music world. That is around 8 or 9 hours of baroque choral music.

In each recording there are aspects that I like and aspects that drive me crazy. My knowledge of Messiah recordings was expanded when I got Spotify 5 years ago. This brought about more opportunities for satisfaction, but also many more details that grated on my soul.

Over the years I have noted many aspects of each recording that I prefer, and some aspects that I absolutely hate. For instance, in Gardiner's recording, the alto sounds too round in her vowels, while in Marriner's recording, multiple recordings sound like the soloists are half-asleep. I appreciate the choral pieces of Hogwood's recording, as well as his efforts to preserve historical authenticity, but I do not like most of the solos in that version.

I decided to put this to the test and solve the problem of the various Messiah recordings that are not perfect. I did not want to settle for any subpar Messiah listening experience.

I have sifted through 12 or 13 recordings of Handel's Messiah on Spotify and other platforms. For instance, I first heard Hogwood's recording on YouTube. Then, I selected six of the best recordings of the whole piece I could find.

Finding and listening took about thirty hours.

After this process was complete, I listened to:

a representative sample

of each piece in the oratorio

in each recording,

in order.

(each "Comfort Ye" in a row, then each "Every Valley," etc.)

I analyzed each recording of each number in terms of diction, understandability (not always the same as diction), faithfulness to the score, tastefulness of the ornaments, tempo, key of the recording, and general quality.

I realize that this last aspect is subjective, but I must be allowed some expression of personal taste. I did conclude against my will that some recordings were the best.

This took about ten hours.

I selected which recording of each piece was best and put them in order in a Spotify playlist,

"The Definitive 'Handel: Messiah' Compilation".

This title is simply my attempt to provide myself some closure after this effort and NOT a declaration of my music theory authority (I have none).

Interestingly, if a recording was selected as the "best" for a particular number, that recording was generally not the best option for the next piece. It all came out that in general, each of the recordings was equally represented in the resulting playlist.

Hopefully you will be able to listen to this playlist, in the comments, without cringing at the squawking of a soprano, the flatness of a tenor's vowels, or the overly-operatic vibrato of a bass.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qfgAuPblN0QMc3GfnHGwa?si=0_tT3DOvS1OQ9GCqdmJuVA

It can be any piece of his work.

Hi everyone, I'm trying to write a historical mystery series set during Queen Anne's reign (1702-1714), and I read yesterday that Anne supported Handel financially.

I subsequently thought it would be a good idea to create a playlist of music to help me get in the time period.

However, I know next to nothing as to what the best pieces or recordings are! Can you please suggest me some for Handel (or any others you know for this time period)?

I'm cross-posting to r/classicalmusic to hopefully expand the results!

Hi Handel Friends,

I cannot get enough of this version of Karl Richter's organ concertos. The way the organ is turned way up and so powerful - I simply cannot find it in a digital or vinyl recording. I did just order and receive SXL 2115, SXL2201 and SXL2187 but it is from a different recording / mix as the organ is not as powerful....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFwPf23k2qE&list=PLbTfl04JPxmpnqOnYcbRb3eTmRqHQEKBm&index=24

Anyone have any ideas or clues? I've been searching all over and cannot find it! Thank you.

​

Treating myself to a recording of the full program. What is the best version?

Suche amerikanischen Süßigkeiten Großhändler mit guten Preisen.

A truly fantastic performance

I stumbled across it whilst searching for some other Handel operas and had forgotten how truly wonderful it is

Agrippina

Shazam cannot identify that.

I'm looking for a piece of music from the 1988 Denis Arcand film "Le declin de l'empire American" that I'm almost positive is by Handel. can't ID that! I need to find this piece of music, almost shure it is Handel... from the movie: "Le declin de l'empire Americain, from Denis Arcand, 1988". Help!

https://reddit.com/link/132np3j/video/159t01mbdswa1/player

I mean this aria from Niremo.

Is there a link that exists? I can't seem to find it. I'm both a Handel and opera noob. Thank you kindly 💖

Church organ arrangement of "Joy to the World", derived from Georg Friedrich Händel's Messiah (premiered 1742).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3YsPxs1e3o

HOW DARE YOU INSULT BACH LIKE THIS. HE IS MY LIFE DONT U DARE EVER INSULT HIM AGAIN

https://preview.redd.it/lgobxwt6huq71.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15685ab8bd43cdcf2c40cecfb52a0cf65afbd8b0