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 💖

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

Today in 1686 we travel to Germany and the city of Halle and remember the birth of George Frederick Handel, composer of the oratorio "Messiah," which is now one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Even though its official title is 'Messiah' I will refer to it as the Messiah from now on.

As a young boy about 8 years old, Handel was noticed by Duke Johann Adolf I whilst playing the court organ in the palace chapel of the Holy Trinity, where he surprised everyone with his playing. Overhearing this performance and noting his young age the Duke recommended that he be given musical instruction. Coming under the tutelage of the organist at the Halle parish church, the young Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow who would become the only teacher that Handel ever had. When Zachow discovered the talent of Handel, he introduced him "to a vast collection of German and Italian music, which he possessed, sacred and profane, vocal and instrumental”. At this young age and thirsty t o learn it was an incredibly formative time, and at the same time Handel continued practice on the harpsichord, learned violin and organ, and developed a special affection for the oboe. Zachow, partly because of his fondness for wine and good company began to let Handel assume some of his church duties and so Handel performed on the organ frequently. This public performance in the sacred liturgical cycle, would have again spurred on Handels development. Those hours put aside preparing practicing and performing are resonant with Malcolms Gladwell’s theory of genius in his book ‘Outliers’ where he states that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness”, During this time Handel also began composing, at the age of nine, church services for voice and instruments and within three or four years had surpassed his teacher.

After periods in Berlin and then Hamburg, Handel travelled to Italy at the request of one of the Medici family. Working in Rome and, since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, he composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. Then he moved to Florence, where he composed his first Italian Opera. In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George who in 1714 would become King George I of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1712, Handel decided to settle permanently in England. In the summer of 1713 he lived at Mr Matthew Andrews' estate in Barn Elms, Surrey where he received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne. Handel's reputation in England had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. But he adapted to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; and the Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech.

The Messiah is based on a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. Jennens was a wealthy land owner and a friend of Handel’s, a very committed Christian he was interested in Primitive Apostolic (Sabbatarian) Christianity and John Chrysostom. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only part taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the "Hallelujah" chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christs glorification in heaven. It was written for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers, which allowed the work to be adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. As a sign of how highly the oratorio was thought of, Mozart later revised and amplified its orchestration. However, more recently the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel's original intentions. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later.

Towards the end of his life, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherland, and he was completely blind by 1752 although was to die 6 years later. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey in a state funeral with more than three thousand mourners, he had never married, and kept his personal life private. He left the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna, servants, friends and to charity.

The full podcast as always is on www.pogp.net ..... Have a lovely day and thanks for reading this if you've made it to the end!