Search - G.F. Handel, Stephen Alltop, The Apollo Chorus of Chicago :: The Complete Handel's Messiah

The Complete Handel's Messiah
G.F. Handel, Stephen Alltop, The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
The Complete Handel's Messiah
Genres: Special Interest, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (23) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (29) - Disc #2

When the Apollo Chorus of Chicago sings, great choral works come alive. Founded in 1872 after the Great Chicago Fire, this powerful 150-voice chorus is one of the city's most exciting and talked-about musical organizations...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: G.F. Handel, Stephen Alltop, The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Title: The Complete Handel's Messiah
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Clarion
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 10/17/2006
Genres: Special Interest, Classical
Styles: Holiday & Wedding, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Baroque (c.1600-1750)
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPCs: 040888091929, 0408880919298

Synopsis

Product Description
When the Apollo Chorus of Chicago sings, great choral works come alive. Founded in 1872 after the Great Chicago Fire, this powerful 150-voice chorus is one of the city's most exciting and talked-about musical organizations. Each season Apollo thrills audiences with beautiful music old and new, winning praise for its performances - especially for Handel's Messiah. Here's what the Chicago Tribune had to say about an Apollo Messiah concert: "[Dr. Alltop] has his troops fully committed to his historically informed methods. Tempos are almost uniformly auicker than the morn 30 years ago. Uninterrupted legato and dirge-like tempos have been superseded by a view that this musical era deserves its own set of performance criteria." The Apollo Chorus began its annual perfornaces of Messiah in 1879, soon after the group was founded. In 2000, under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Stephen Alltop, Apollo began perforning the complete version of this magnificent work. As Dr. Alltop says, "While our history is long and rich, it is the commitment to constantly elevating artistic standards in the great music we perform which energizes our work together. We strive to bring out new discoveries and feelings in each performance.
 

CD Reviews

Worth a listen
Arthur Moswin | chicago, il USA | 11/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"yes, there are (too)many recordings of this, from small period groups to the huge Malcom Sargent recordings. This is a thoughtfully performed complete version with baroque orchestra (modern instruments) and a large chorus, but with a vocal clarity not usually found in groups of this size. Yearly performances (since the 1800s) of this work by this chorus are a Chicago institution."
Beautiful Music
Nicole | Chicago, IL | 11/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The singers' voices are clear, accurate, and melodic and the orchestra is top notch too. This is one of the best recordings of Messiah I've found."