Search - Handel, Richter, Donath :: Messiah Hlts

Handel: Messiah conducted by Karl Richter

Geoff Driscoll | 01/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the most robust performance of Messiah. The tempo is great, not too fast, not too slow. Too bad that Amazon does not carry the full version of this. The minute they come out with the full version, I am buying it."

You Can Keep Your Dignified Tempos and Original Instruments

John H. Taylor | 12/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Was delighted to see that a highlights CD is available of this performance; I second those listeners who want the whole deal, which I only have on cassette, and it's wearing out! This is an expansive performance with large forces and high drama. In the overture there's a ritard in the last few bars. Many conductors take the piece too slowly and daintily and then run out of gas entirely at the end. Richter plays it fast and furious, wringing all the angst and even violence he can out of the mighty fugue, and then he roars right through the ritard, even skipping a beat. I also like to count how long conductors hold the rest at the very end, before the final "Amen, Amen." Too short, and it misses the point. More than five seconds, it would be weird. Richter's silence is maybe 4.5 seconds, and it's the highlight of the whole thing. Amazing music!"