George Frideric Handel - Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra / Robert Shaw - Messiah (1966, ReIssue 2004)

×

George Frideric Handel - Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra / Robert Shaw - Messiah (1966, ReIssue 2004)

Close

George Frideric Handel - Messiah
Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra / Robert Shaw
EAC+LOG+CUE | 2x CD, FLAC: 723 MB | Artwork: 35 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Red Seal # 082876-62317-2 | Country/Year: US 2004, 1966
Genre: Classical, Historical Recording | Style: Baroque, Oratorio, Sacred

MD5 [X] CUE [X] LOG [X] INFO TEXT [X] ARTWORK [X]

my rip [] not my rip [X]

×

George Frideric Handel - Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra / Robert Shaw - Messiah (1966, ReIssue 2004)

Close

Review by Blair Sanderson

Recorded in 1966, Robert Shaw's Grammy Award-winning performance of Handel's Messiah marks an important turning-point in this work's interpretation, clearly moving away from the ponderous, overly reverential style of early twentieth century renditions and pointing toward the leaner versions of the 1970s onwards, which follow Baroque-period practices. Shaw employed a small orchestra that complemented the vocal soloists with a light, transparent string sound – complete with an audible continuo of harpsichord and cello – and he eschewed reinforcing wind parts in all but the choruses. Ornamentation is cleanly and tastefully applied, and Shaw's tempi are usually brisk and propulsive, with sparing use of ritardandi; even then, there is always a firm rhythmic thrust to his cadences. Soprano Judith Raskin, contralto Florence Kopleff, tenor Richard Lewis, and bass Thomas Paul are equally matched in expressive depth and vocal strength, and the Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra is consistently motivated and responsive to the conductor's fluid direction. The listener may regret that the ADD sound is a little weak, but the tape hiss has been minimized in the remastering and is fairly easy to ignore. Evenly divided between two discs, this recording of Messiah is complete, and it is preferred over RCA's 1992 excerpt album The Great Choruses from Messiah. 4/5 allmusicguide

Long recognized as the “dean of American choral conductors,” Robert Shaw was born on April 30, 1916, in Red Bluffs, California. He came from a family of preachers—his father and grandfather were both ministers—and his mother sang in church choirs. He seemed destined for the ministry as well; he majored in religion and philosophy at Pomona College, and joined the college’s glee club. It was while he was conducting that college group that the popular bandleader and radio personality Fred Waring discovered the young artist. Waring brought Shaw to New York to form and conduct the Fred Waring Glee Club for weekly radio broadcasts.
While in New York, Shaw formed the Collegiate Chorale, an all-volunteer chorus that gave its first performance in 1941. The ensemble became well known for its high standards and for its racially integrated membership, singing both traditional music and new works. The Chorale was eventually engaged by Arturo Toscanini to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with his famed NBC Symphony. After hearing the chorus, Toscanini said to his players, “I have at last found the maestro I have been looking for.”

In 1949, the conductor formed the Robert Shaw Chorale, which for the next 20 years was known as America’s ambassadors of choral music. The ensemble toured 30 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America as well as the Soviet Union at the behest of the U.S. State Department. The Chorale began appearing on RCA opera recordings when a chorus was required (including Bizet’s Carmen, Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila, Verdi’s Aïda and many other works), and then began recording numerous choral albums of diverse repertoire, from folk favorites to the mainstays of the classical choral literature. For this group, Shaw commissioned new pieces from that day’s leading composers, including Darius Milhaud, Benjamin Britten, and Aaron Copland. During this period, Shaw won the first four of 14 GRAMMY® Awards. Robert Shaw’s work during this time was not limited to his namesake chorus. He served as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony between 1953 and 1958. In 1956, George Szell invited Shaw to become the Associate Conductor and Chorus Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, where he stayed for 11 years.

In 1967, Robert Shaw was offered the post of Music Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. During his 21-year tenure there, the ASO evolved from a part-time, part-year regional ensemble to become a full-time, year-round orchestra that received international recognition and toured both the United States and countries abroad. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under Shaw’s direction, was invited to perform at the Inaugural Concert for President-elect Jimmy Carter in 1977. Six of Shaw’s Grammys® for Best Choral Album were awarded for his work with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

The conductor retired from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1988, and was named Music Director Emeritus and Conductor Laureate of that ensemble. After his ASO retirement, he established the Robert Shaw Choral Institute (now affiliated with Ohio State University), which he hoped would continue to foster excellence in the choral arts. Following his retirement from Atlanta, Shaw gave a landmark series of summer choral festivals in the south of France and in Greenville, South Carolina, under the aegis of the Institute, and worked with another of his ensembles, the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. In 1990, Carnegie Hall established a yearly series of professional workshops under his direction, which drew choral directors and singers from across the country for weeklong sessions of study, culminating in public performances.

Other awards given to Robert Shaw include: England’s Gramophone Magazine Award; honorary degrees and citations from 40 American colleges and universities; the first Guggenheim Fellowship ever awarded to a conductor; four ASCAP Awards for service to contemporary music; Columbia University’s Alice M. Ditson Award for Service to American Music; the George Peabody Medal for outstanding contributions to music in America; and the Gold Baton Award of the American Symphony Orchestra League for distinguished service to music and the arts. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Council of the Arts in 1979, and he was a 1991 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, the United States’ highest honor to artists “who, through a lifetime of accomplishment, have enriched American life by their achievement in the performing arts.” In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of the Arts at the White House. He was the 1993 recipient of the Conductors’ Guild Theodore Thomas Award, given in recognition of his outstanding lifetime achievement as a conductor and as a contributor to the education of young conductors. In 1997, Shaw was recognized by the French government as an Officier des Arts et des Lettres. He passed away on January 25, 1999. Sony Music

×

George Frideric Handel - Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra / Robert Shaw - Messiah (1966, ReIssue 2004)

Close

More Handel

all of my uploads in my blog