Handel's 'Messiah' is one of the most sung oratorios in the world and its great choruses and arias can be heard on countless classical collections. From its premiere to the present day, this great sacred work enjoys almost unbroken popularity and has always fascinated audiences and musicians alike. In the chapter "Resurrection of George Frideric Handel" of his book "Decisive Moments in History", Stefan Zweig provides a particularly colourful description of Handel’s "Messiah". Starting from the fresh spirit of the work, he creates a lively story that lets the reader look over his shoulder as he composes the work. In it, he illustrates the timelessness and special position of this great composition in the context of music history.

The Huddersfield Choral society has one of the longest and most fruitful relationships with Handel s famous Messiah than perhaps any other chorus in the world: they first performed it in concert during their inception year of 1836, and have continued to do so annually since 1860 with concerts the world over as well as in their hometown of Huddersfield. Recorded live in concert in December 2010, this new recording combines the famous ensemble with the Northern Sinfonia and four world-class professionals, under the direction of Jane Glover CBE. The disc begins with John Wainwright s Christians Awake , a traditional addition to the Messiah programme at their concerts in Huddersfield.

The performance here of Samson is definitive. It is lively, colourful and highly dramatic. There is no comparison with the tedious performance by the Sixteen on Coro. The performance of the Messiah with limited modern instrumental forces of the English Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with very good soloists doesn't sacrifice grandeur nor does it go to the other extreme of over-blown pomp. It is a very good performamce on modern instruments under the direction of the Baroque music specialist conductor Raymond Leppard.

Handel’s Messiah is already very well represented on the market with dozens of existing recordings and new productions appearing at regular intervals. Yet this is a very special version, carefully crafted by the Prague-based Collegium Vocale and Collegium 1704 under the baton of Vaclav Luks, founder of the ensemble and one of the most exciting conductors of the Baroque and Classical repertoire. The fine young singers Giulia Semenzato, Benno Schachtner, Krystian Adam, and Krešimir Stražanac joined the ensembles for two moving live performances in Prague’s Rudolfinum in March 2018, and those performances are now presented here.

The Goossens Messiah, recorded for the first and only time by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus under Sir Thomas Beecham, has stood as a landmark of the classical catalogue for sixty years. Goossens’ richly orchestrated version is set to reach a new audience thanks to Maestro Griffith and DCINY, New York City’s leading promoter of classical music. They gathered at Abbey Road Studios in London in July 2019, to record the work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a chorus comprising of sixty members of The Jonathan Griffith Singers, drawn from around the world and sixty members of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. The new recording has captured the score’s vibrant tone colours in thrilling high-definition sound.

Handel's Messiah is increasingly performed in authentic Baroque style and with period techniques, and this version by conductor Anders Öhrwall, the Stockholm Bach Choir, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra falls in line with the trend. While there is no clear indication that the instruments are anything but modern, the orchestral sound is imbued with a glossy string sound and transparent textures supported by a basso continuo that includes both harpsichord and organ, and the choir's scaled-down size gives it the transparency associated with Baroque choral singing.

This 2009 live performance by German-based chamber ensemble Musica Saeculorum under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker is a pure, polished recording; sharply defined and alternately musical and muscular in it's sensibility. Despite their German origin, this is a English language performance, with nary a hint of accent detectable; indeed, this is a sparkling performance from all involved, with crisp diction, razor-sharp attacks and both the orchestral and choral forces moving as one. Tenor Daniel Johannsen is electrifying in his solos, with crystal-clear singing and a heroic tone. Bass Dominik Wörner is similarly potent in his arias, bringing high drama and technique to his arias.

In 1789 Mozart arranged George Frideric Handel's Messiah on behalf of a group of Viennese noblemen.He abridged the work in an effort to tauten the drama, transposed arias to suit his singers' abilities and he subjected it to a fundamental re-orchestration to adapt the sound of the work to the musical taste of his time. lt was not until the 20th century that the historical and musical value of Mozart's Messiah arrangement was reappraised. Mozart's interpretation of Handel's Counterpoint and his synthesis of Baroque and Classical stylistic elements give the work a compelling new sound.

This is a beautiful recording of Handel's Messiah, performed by OSJ at St John’s Smith Square in London on 5th March 2016.

Jordi Savall's prolific output of recordings on Alia Vox is hard to pigeonhole because his expansive repertoire runs from some of the most obscure early music of the Old and New Worlds, to well-established classics like George Frederick Handel's Messiah. Recorded live at a December, 2017 concert in the Chapelle Royale du Chateau de Versailles, this performance of Messiah is based on the 1741 autograph score in the British Library in London, essentially re-creating the Dublin version, with restored oboe parts taken from the part-books for the 1754 Foundling Hospital version, and with four vocal soloists instead of Handel's original group of nine.

Switzerland’s legendary Death/Thrashers Messiah are back with a new studio album! The follow-up to 2020’s highly acclaimed comeback album “Fracmont” promises harder and faster material with striking guitar parts and great arrangements, and also features the band’s new members Marcus Seebach (vocals) and V.O. Pulver (guitar), who are adding their own touches. There’s definitely a new wind blowing, but Messiah have not lost any of their established trademarks of old.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has long been associated with traditional performances of George Frideric Handel's Messiah, which are characterized by massive choral and orchestral forces and weighty interpretations of this popular oratorio. However, while there are no drastic stylistic revisions in the choir's 2016 release of Messiah, and it is decidedly not a period recreation, some aspects of historically informed practice have influenced this reading by Mack Wilberg, particularly in the use of a harpsichord continuo, fairly brisk tempos, clearly articulated choral parts, and a relatively light ensemble sound. Featuring the voices of soprano Sonya Yoncheva, mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, tenor Rolando Villazón, and bass Bryn Terfel, this performance also has the "star quality" that Handel encouraged in his recruitment of international singers.

It was this set which, in company with one from Sir Colin Davis issued by Philips a few weeks earlier, inaugurated the era of 'progressive' Messiah recordings. They had of course been foreshadowed—by Sir Adrian Boult, notably, and by the work of such editors as John Tobin and Watkins Shaw. But this was one of the first to use a chamber orchestra, lively tempos and ornamentation: and between them Davis and Mackerras made us listen afresh to a work whose performance traditions had threatened to become hidebound… The forces aren't 'authentic', but rather larger, and women's voices are used in the chorus. It is however an excellent chorus, well disciplined and clean.

This edition of Handel’s Messiah is a landmark recording both for the Academy and in the history of the work, being both the first recording made with the Academy’s own chorus, and the first (and as far as we are aware, only) recording of the version used by Handel for the work’s 1743 London premiere. Sir Neville Marriner’s deliberate choice to break with the massed-choir treatments of the past was greeted enthusiastically by the public, selling over a quarter of a million copies in the first three years, and leading Fanfare’s Michael Carter to remark in 2010: “There have been many recordings of Messiah since this 1976 release and there will no doubt be many more to come, but few, if any, will match, let alone surpass, this of Marriner.”

Handels Messiah is already very well-represented on the market with dozens of existing recordings and new productions appearing at regular intervals. Yet this is a very special version, carefully crafted, Halle Handel Edition in hand, by a Basel-based selection of fine vocal soloists and instrumentalists who have all graduated from the world-famous Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Under the fine direction of Daniela Dolci, singers Miriam Feuersinger, Flavio Ferri-Benedeti, Dino Luthy and Raitis Grigalis join the ensemble Musica Fiorita for a moving studio recording made in October 2015.