A new (to me) and outstanding "Messiah"

[tones]

From Downunder!

Having seen some clips on YouTube, I acquired this from the ABC Shop:

http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/produc...oductid=342322

You get 2 CDs and a DVD of the performance. This is an excellent performance, one of the best I've heard. The bass soloist, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, is especially good, singing the words as if he meant them - his "Why do the nations?" is, I think, the best I've ever heard. The tempi are nice, full of fire and drama (as all good "Messiah" recordings should) and choir and orchestra (original instruments) do a great job. I really expected the DVD to be Region 4 (I have a code-free machine), but to my surprise it played on my Region 2 machine.

 

[Tony L]

Tones, your link doesn't work.

Tony.

PS Much music on DVD is I believe 'Region 0', i.e. no region to enable it to be played anywhere. I think the pettiness with DVDs comes from the film industry rather than the music industry (for once).

 

[PigletsDad]

As somebody who hails from NZ, I am sure the number "We like sheep" will have been sung with real conviction by an Australian choir.

 

[tones]

Tones, your link doesn't work.

Tony.

PS Much music on DVD is I believe 'Region 0', i.e. no region to enable it to be played anywhere. I think the pettiness with DVDs comes from the film industry rather than the music industry (for once).

How's this?

http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=342322

Curiously, when you look up the DVD on the ABC Shop, it says "Region 4", so I was expecting to have to use the Sony universal player.

The music industry seems to have a mixed bag. For example, Gardiner's knockout Christmas Oratorio is Region 0, but his cantata DVD is Region 2, as is his magnificent Monteverdi's Vespers (the famous "live" version in San Marco). It appears to reflect the philosophy of the individual companies - and you're right, it is a pain in every part of the anatomy of which you could possiblc conceive. There is a stunning "Traviata", with Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas, the first opera to be filmed against real backgrounds, as opposed to stage setting. And it's only available on Region 1!

 

[tones]

As somebody who hails from NZ, I am sure the number "We like sheep" will have been sung with real conviction by an Australian choir.

They have tur-hur-hur-(several dozen bars (musical variety hopefully) later)-hur-hur-urnèd ev'ry one to his own Naym
And this For-or-or-or-or-um has laid upon them the iniquity of it all

 

[Cheese]

Still waiting for Herreweghe. Either he hates the work or he's waiting for the moment when he 'understands' the work properly.

 

[tones]

Still waiting for Herreweghe. Either he hates the work or he's waiting for the moment when he 'understands' the work properly.

Perhaps it's the very Englishness that puts the Continentals off it. Many plump instead for Der Messias. Mozart's reorchestration of the work. This is marvellous in its own way, the tribute of one genius to another. It's also easier to play (the wicked clarino trumpet parts were unplayable by Mozart's time, so "The trumpet shall sound", is played by a horn). In addition, there have been some rather odd prononciations, including notorious case in which a German lady rendered "O Death, where is thy sting?" as "Odette, ver ist di stink?"

 

[Tony L]

In addition, there have been some rather odd prononciations, including notorious case in which a German lady rendered "O Death, where is thy sting?" as "Odette, ver ist di stink?"

LOL, that's just better.

Tony.