Catalogue

Summary:

“[Apollo’s Fire] plays with great crispness and vigour, offering terse supporting musical pillars to the voices and emphasising rhythmic vigour over a sense of line … the instrumental playing here is pretty near faultless … Forsythe can articulate Handel’s typically breath-defying runs in ‘Rejoice greatly’ with a dazzling purity and total mastery of tone which has few equals on disc” – International Record Review 

“The answer to the prayers of those hoping for freshness, clarity, and no-holds-barred enthusiasm. The playing… suggests an almost improvisatory quality… a sense that both players and singers are coming to the work with a fresh perspective. Apollo’s Singers show both discipline and abandon where required… The playing is lucid, forceful, and supportive, with the overall feel of a group of friends collaborating for enjoyment… Performances of youthful fire and commitment.” – Fanfare 

“Wonderfully entertaining. The singers and orchestra sound absolutely delighted to be performing Messiah… Sorrell employs a lovely dancing lilt and draws a variety of colors from the chorus… gleamingly radiant. Excellent soloists… persuasively emotional and highly dramatic. First rate.” ★★★★★ – Stephen Eddins, AllMusic.com 

“The players take their namesake ‘Fire’ to heart.” – James R Oestreich, The New York Times 

“First rate… a winning, distinctive new version.” – St Louis Dispatch 

“Over the years, music director Jeannette Sorrell has rethought and refined her vision of the piece to the point where Handel is both the most subtle and explosive of composers. Sorrell leads the score as if she were sharing artistic secrets or basking in the passionate content that flows from the page. Every phrase is shaped with a keen blend of fidelity and imagination. The Apollo’s Fire musicians… show how intimacy brings the drama into tight, blazing focus…. This is a ‘Messiah’ that tells its story with sometimes fierce power. Yet Sorrell also is a conductor who adores nuance. Choral clarity of this sort is almost unheard of today” – The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire offer a unique release of Handel’s Messiah: a 3-disc set including 2 CDs and a DVD, presenting a dramatic approach which explores the work as the theatrical entertainment which Handel intended – an oratorio being a dramatic work, and Handel’s bold declaration that Messiah was “A Sacred Oratorio.” While the theatrical/spiritual duality caused criticism in Handel’s lifetime, Sorrell believes it is one of the key reasons the work continues to speak so directly to modern audiences. The DVD includes footage from rehearsals, concerts and recording sessions, interviews with soloists, principal players and Sorrell.

Tracklist:

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)

CD 1 (74:17)
PART THE FIRST

1. Sinfony (3:02)
2. Comfort ye (3:02)
3. Ev’ry valley (3:27)
4. And the glory of the Lord (2:45)
5. Thus saith the Lord (1:24)
6. But who may abide (4:34)
7. And He shall purify (2:27)
8. Behold, a virgin shall conceive (0:26)
9. O thou that tellest (5:13)
10. For behold, darkness (1:58)
11. The people that walked in darkness (3:57)
12. For unto us a child is born (3:52)
13. Pifa (2:32)
14. There were shepherds (0:29)
15. And the angel said unto them (0:34)
16. And suddenly (0:16)
17. Glory to God (1:52)
18. Rejoice greatly (4:47)
19. Then shall the eyes of the blind (0:31)
20. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (5:06)
21. His yoke is easy (2:23)

PART THE SECOND
22. Behold the Lamb of God (2:33)
23. He was despised (8:56)
24. Surely, He hath borne our griefs (1:42)
25. And with His stripes (1:56)
26. All we like sheep (4:18)

CD 2 (57:54)
1. All they that see Him (0:43)
2. He trusted in God (2:17)
3. Thy rebuke hath broken His heart (1:36)
4. Behold, and see (1:24)
5. He was cut off (0:15)
6. But thou didst not leave (2:09)
7. Thou art gone up on high (3:13)
8. The Lord gave the word (1:05)
9. How beautiful are the feet (2:19)
10. Why do the nations (1:20)
11. Let us break their bonds (1:45)
12. He that dwelleth in heaven (0:12)
13. Thou shalt break them (2:12)
14. Hallelujah (3:45)

PART THE THIRD
15. I know that my Redeemer liveth (6:22)
16. Since by man came death (1:59)
17. Behold, I tell you a mystery (0:33)
18. The trumpet shall sound (8:39)
19. Then shall be brought to pass (0:13)
20. O Death, where is thy sting? (1:03)
21. But thanks be to God (2:09)
22. If God be for us (5:03)
23. Worthy is the Lamb (7:24)

Recorded live in concert, 12 and 13 December 2008, with additional recording sessions on 16 and 17 December, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Exception: CD1, tracks 2-3 and CD2, track 1 recorded in February 2010
Erica Brenner, recording producer
Thomas Knab, recording engineer