Le Messie Version allemande

Description

The beautiful Urania label finally abandons its sinister black covers, but the editorial policy remains the same: to offer the most classic works by their greatest interpreters, in relatively rare live recordings and with decent sound restoration. Here we have a Messiah from 1963, performed in German, as was common at the time. Conducted by Karl Richter. There is no baroque influence here; the Harnoncourt-Leonhardt generation is just beginning to impose the authoritative reinterpretations we know today. Let us set aside our new habits as music lovers to appreciate what shines here and is, at its core, essential: faith, supported by a luxury quartet that baroque performers will never benefit from: I cannot be objective when speaking of Janowitz, who is part of my personal pantheon. Some will point out the tubby highs, the uniformity of colors, but it doesn't matter: in the joy of the nativity, this seraphic song is ideal. Haefliger is at the same level of vocal and spiritual accomplishment. Marga Hoeffgen unfolds the sumptuous velvet of her mezzo, and Franz Crass, with his fabulous means, is the very definition of delicacy. Essential. (Olivier Gutierrez)