If you’re in search of a highlights-from-Messiah CD, you can’t do better than this one. The hour of music you’ll find here includes arias for each soloist and the choruses “And the glory of the Lord”, “For unto us…”, “Hallelujah”, and the final “Worthy is the Lamb” and “Amen”. John Wakefield’s “Ev’ry valley” is excellent and includes light embellishments, as do all the other solos. Helen Watts’ ripe alto lends dignity to her numbers, Heather Harper’s lovely soprano has rarely sounded lovelier, and John Shirley-Quirk dazzles us through both “Why do the nations” and “The trumpet shall sound”. In the late 1960s, when this was originally released, it was seen as a milestone in Handel performance and was highly lauded. It is still both. [2/16/2000]
