Classical Christmas Listening Guide

Every year at this time certain seasonal favorites may be indicated for your listening pleasure. Recordings of these favorites are a-dime-a-dozen and often don’t do justice to the composer’s work. So here’s a little guidance to make the most of your holiday listening.

Messiah (HWV 56) - George Frideric Handel

Messiah was written in 1741 and first performed in Dublin in 1742 when Handel was 57. At the time Handel was considering a move back to his German homeland until friend and literary scholar Charles Jennens convinced him otherwise. Jennens had recently arranged a compliation of biblical scriptures that he proposed Handel use in an oratorio - Handel accepted and remained in London to work on the project. He is said to have completed the work in record time - twenty four days, while in his home at 25 Brook Street.

The scriptures arranged by Jennens encompass profound spiritual themes central to Christianity. Divided into three parts, the standard format for an oratorio, Messiah follows the life of Christ from the prophesy of his birth to the crucifiction and resurection. The words and music take us through the divine and spiritual battle of good vs. evil culminating in the triumph of virtue over sin and the redemption of humankind. With the resurection of Christ at its climax, Messiah had been a traditional Easter performance, but has since become associated more closely with Christmas.

Messiah was not written and cast in stone, in fact the work has evolved significantly over time, such that there is no truely definitive version that accurately reflects the original. Revisions and specific arragements began appearing even before Handel passed in 1759. The most famous arrangement came about in 1788 when Mozart was commissioned by Baron van Swieten to provide more modern versions of Handel’s oratorios including Messiah. Mozart made significant changes to the orchestration, phrasing, and instrumentation that are still performed to this day.

The Messiah recordings are numerous to say the least, and because of its evolution over the centuries there are many different versions. Recordings range from traditional authentic performances to more modern re-orchestrations that add more colour and possibly entertainment value (or some might say over exaggerated). Also the recordings of choral selections should not be forgotten, as many enjoy hearing the more popular exerpts, without sitting through the entire oratorio. Here are some recommended recordings of performances in these areas:

Authentic / Traditional

Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood Conductor
This is a truely traditional recording perhaps even scholarly, and is based on period instruments. If you are looking for an academic version and period sound this is your best bet. Thanks Marc.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with Sir Georg Solti, Conductor and Kiri Te Kawana, Soprano
This is a complete, and traditional recording performed in 1985. The work is would be most suitable for those interested in an authentic recording. Kiri Te Kawana provides a mostly supurb performance.

Transitional

London Symphony Orchestra, with Sir Colin Davis, Conductor
This performance was recorded in 1966, and could be considered a compromise between the traditional and modern performances with a bias to the traditional. It is a complete recording save for a single section of “He was despised”, and is recorded on modern instruments.

Modern

The Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields with Sir Neville Marriner, Conductor
This is a complete but modern recording performed with modern instruments. It is a very exciting perfomance with a noticeably upbeat tempo and a pleasing rhythmic flow all done very tastefully and not taken over the top.

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