The Crandall Surf Report 2.0
commentary on almost anything that seems interesting





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Wednesday, December 25, 2002
 

Merry Christmas!

The BBC has a delightful section of Wayne Marshall improvisations based on listener requests.
7:38:15 AM    


So what is your favorite recording of the Messiah? I clearly haven't heard all of them (or even a small fraction), but have been to enough live performances that I'm critical of recordings.

Here are my favorites..

For a period Messiah you can do much worse than John Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir. This is a disk rather than a disc - Philips 434-298-2. The mezzo is astounding in this recording. Hunt it down and buy it is my recommendation.

The gold standard that I measure recordings against is the Royal Philharmonic conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. It is old and quirky, but a complete delight - the tenor and bass are great. RCA Gold Seal 09026-61266-2 (my copy says 1959).

All Messiahs are compromises but the best IMHO is the Garielli Players and Consort with Paul McCreesh conducting. A big lush sound, but not too big or too lush to loose detail. The recording engineer was brilliant (thanks to Mike who is a great recording engineer in his own right for pointing this one out). If you have to own one Messiah, this is my recommendation. Archive 453-464-2 This one is on the iPod.
7:38:05 AM    


If you have just unwrapped an iPod and are wondering how to connect it to your car stereo look no further.
7:37:10 AM    

The NY Times has a nice piece on the Dead Sea Scrolls including the economic conversion from indigo dye to chickens (eighty chickens per pound of dye).
7:36:44 AM    


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