Handel: Messiah (CD2+DVD)

CD1

1. Sinfonia: (Grave-Allegro Moderato) (Part I)
2. Accompagnato: Comfort ye, my people (Part I)
3. Air: Ev’ry valley shall be exalted (Part I)
4. Chorus: And the glory of the Lord (Part I)
5. Accompagnato: Thus saith the Lord of hosts (Part I)
6. Air: But who may abide the day of his coming? (Part I)
7. Chorus: And he shall purify (Part I)
8. Recitative: Behold, a virgin shall conceive (Part I)
9. Air & Chorus: O thou that tellest  good tidings to Zion (Part I)
10. Accompagnato: For behold (Part I)
11. Air: The people that walked in darkness (Part I)
12. Chorus: For unto us a child is born (Part I)
13. Larghetto e mezzo piano (Part I)
14. Recitative: There were shepherds (Part I)
15. Recitative: And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them (Part I)
16. Recitative: And the angel said unto them (Part I)
17. Recitative & Accompagnato: And suddenly (Part I)
18. Chorus: Glory to God in the highest (Part I)
19. Air: Rejoice greatly (Part I)
20. Recitative: Then shall the eyes of the blind be open’d (Part I)
21. Duet: He shall feed His flock (Part I)
22. Chorus: His yoke is easy (Part I)
23. Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God (Part II)
24. Air: He was despised (Part II)
25. Chorus: Surely He hath borne our griefs (Part II)
26. Chorus: And with His stripes (Part II)
27. Chorus: All we, like sheep, have gone astray (Part II)
28. Accompagnato: All they that see Him laugh Him to Scorn (Part II)
29. Chorus: He trusted in God (Part II)
30. Accompagnato: Thy rebuke hath broken his Heart (Part II)
31. Air: Behold, and see (Part II)
32. Recitative: He was cut off out of the land of the living (Part II)
33. Air: But thou didst not leave His soul in hell (Part II)

CD2

1. Chorus: Lift up your heads (Part II)
2. Recitative: Unto which of the angels he at any time (Part II)
3. Chorus: Let all the angels of God worship him (Part II)
4. Air: Thou art gone up on high (Part II)
5. Chorus: The Lord gave the word (Part II)
6. Air: How beautiful are the feet (Part II)
7. Chorus: Break forth into joy (Part II)
8. Chorus: Their sound is gone out into all lands (Part II)
9. Air: Why do the nations (Part II)
10. Chorus: Let us break their bonds asunder (Part II)
11. Recitative: He that dwelleth in heaven (Part II)
12. Air: Thou shalt break them (Part II)
13. Chorus: Hallelujah (Part II)
14. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth (Part III)
15. Chorus: Since by man came death (Part III)
16. Accompagnato: Behold, I tell you a mystery (Part III)
17. Air: The trumpet shall sound (Part III)
18. Recitative: Then shall be brought to pass the saying (Part III)
19. Duet: O Death (Part III)
20. Chorus: But thanks to be God (Part III)
21. Air: If God be for us (Part III)
22. Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb (Part III)
23. Aria. "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?" (Appendix Arias)
24. Arioso. "But lo, the Angel of the Lord Came Upon Them" (Appendix Arias)
25. Aria. "Rejoice Greatly" (Appendix Arias)
26. Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High" (Appendix Arias)
27. Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High" (Alternate Version) (Appendix Arias)
28. Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet" (Appendix Arias)
29. Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet" (Alternate Version) (Appendix Arias)
30. "Their Sound Is Gone out into All Lands" (Appendix Arias)

DVD1

1. Sinfonia: (Grave-Allegro Moderato) (Part I)
2. Accompagnato: Comfort ye, my people (Part I)
3. Air: Ev’ry valley shall be exalted (Part I)
4. Chorus: And the glory of the Lord (Part I)
5. Accompagnato: Thus saith the Lord of hosts (Part I)
6. Air: But who may abide the day of his coming? (Part I)
7. Chorus: And he shall purify (Part I)
8. Recitative: Behold, a virgin shall conceive (Part I)
9. Air & Chorus: O thou that tellest  good tidings to Zion (Part I)
10. Accompagnato: For behold (Part I)
11. Air: The people that walked in darkness (Part I)
12. Chorus: For unto us a child is born (Part I)
13. Larghetto e mezzo piano (Part I)
14. Recitative: There were shepherds (Part I)
15. Recitative: And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them (Part I)
16. Recitative: And the angel said unto them (Part I)
17. Recitative & Accompagnato: And suddenly (Part I)
18. Chorus: Glory to God in the highest (Part I)
19. Air: Rejoice greatly (Part I)
20. Recitative: Then shall the eyes of the blind be open’d (Part I)
21. Duet: He shall feed His flock (Part I)
22. Chorus: His yoke is easy (Part I)
23. Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God (Part II)
24. Air: He was despised (Part II)
25. Chorus: Surely He hath borne our griefs (Part II)
26. Chorus: And with His stripes (Part II)
27. Chorus: All we, like sheep, have gone astray (Part II)
28. Accompagnato: All they that see Him laugh Him to Scorn (Part II)
29. Chorus: He trusted in God (Part II)
30. Accompagnato: Thy rebuke hath broken his Heart (Part II)
31. Air: Behold, and see (Part II)
32. Recitative: He was cut off out of the land of the living (Part II)
33. Air: But thou didst not leave His soul in hell (Part II)
34. Chorus: Lift up your heads (Part II)
35. Recitative: Unto which of the angels he at any time (Part II)
36. Chorus: Let all the angels of God worship him (Part II)
37. Air: Thou art gone up on high (Part II)
38. Chorus: The Lord gave the word (Part II)
39. Air: How beautiful are the feet (Part II)
40. Chorus: Break forth into joy (Part II)
41. Chorus: Their sound is gone out into all lands (Part II)
42. Air: Why do the nations (Part II)
43. Chorus: Let us break their bonds asunder (Part II)
44. Recitative: He that dwelleth in heaven (Part II)
45. Air: Thou shalt break them (Part II)
46. Chorus: Hallelujah (Part II)
47. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth (Part III)
48. Chorus: Since by man came death (Part III)
49. Accompagnato: Behold, I tell you a mystery (Part III)
50. Air: The trumpet shall sound (Part III)
51. Recitative: Then shall be brought to pass the saying (Part III)
52. Duet: O Death (Part III)
53. Chorus: But thanks to be God (Part III)
54. Air: If God be for us (Part III)
55. Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb (Part III)
56. Aria. "But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?" (Appendix Arias)
57. Arioso. "But lo, the Angel of the Lord Came Upon Them" (Appendix Arias)
58. Aria. "Rejoice Greatly" (Appendix Arias)
59. Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High" (Appendix Arias)
60. Aria. "Thou Art Gone up on High" (Alternate Version) (Appendix Arias)
61. Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet" (Appendix Arias)
62. Aria. "How Beautiful Are the Feet" (Alternate Version) (Appendix Arias)
63. "Their Sound Is Gone out into All Lands" (Appendix Arias)

“A lifetime of performing Messiah has brought me, at the age of 80, enough courage to record this singularly famous piece of music. With the finest musicians and soloists on the planet surrounding me, I’m finally ready to lay down my personal interpretation for posterity.”

So wrote the American conductor John Nelson, especially famed for his interpretations of Berlioz, before he conducted Handel’s most celebrated oratorio at Coventry Cathedral in the heart of England in November 2022. He was joined by the historically informed orchestra and choir of The English Concert and by soprano Lucy Crowe, countertenor Alex Potter, tenor Michael Spyres and bass Matthew Brook. This memorable performance is now released by Erato as a three-disc set – comprising the audio version on 2 CDs and the video on a DVD.

The performance features variants of the score that reflect either Handel’s original autograph (1741), the first performances in Dublin (1742), or substitutions for London revivals in 1745, 1749 and 1750. A special feature of the release are eight bonus tracks – alternative versions of such arias as ‘Rejoice greatly’ and ‘But who may abide the day of his coming’, produced by Handel between 1741 and 1750, before a ‘standard’ version of Messiah took shape in the early 1750s.

When the city of Coventry suffered devastating bombing in 1940, its 15th century cathedral was left in ruins. In 1962 a new, modernist cathedral designed by Basil Spence was consecrated by Queen Elizabeth II. “Mine has been a long-term dream to conduct Messiah in Coventry,” continued John Nelson. “In today’s turbulent world, where conflict has returned to Europe and the suffering of millions of displaced families has come close to all our lives, I hope that this concert of Messiah in this symbolic location can be a powerful message of hope, as it was when Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was premiered there in 1962 [for the consecration of the cathedral] …

“Every century since time immemorial has seen wars or heard rumours of wars. The war in Ukraine is heart-breaking but regrettably nothing new … The biblical texts chosen by Charles Jennens for Messiah speak to this condition: ‘Thus saith the Lord … I will shake the heavens and the earth’, ‘For behold, darkness shall cover the earth’, ‘Why do the nations rage?’, but balanced by hopeful texts like ‘Comfort ye’, ‘Surely He hath borne our griefs’, ‘O death, where is thy sting?’, and of course the great ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.

“As a Christian, I believe war and evil will not have the last word. There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel! That is what I would like audiences to come away with.”

After the performance in Coventry, the Times wrote:

“It must have been tempting for Nelson, with his gift for Romantic-era epics, to opt for modern instruments, but instead he enlisted the English Concert to make a rare foray into period performance. It worked a treat.

From shadowy strings in ‘For behold, darkness shall cover the earth’ to gilded trumpets and exuberant timpani in the final chorus, this was Handel straight from the opera house: dramatic and eloquent.

“The soloists were a starry bunch … Lucy Crowe[’s] … diamond-glint soprano … with Matthew Brook’s gravelly bass-baritone a superb foil … Alex Potter displayed ethereal tone and beautiful control, while Spyres, an unusual ‘baritenor’, was in full operatic splendour. And there’s no better seal of approval than the soloists surreptitiously singing along from the sidelines as the splendid choir unleashed the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.”