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Title: Messiah mistreated
Review: First of all, there is nothing wrong with the soloist or the rest of the performers of this interpretation of Messiah - in fact, the execution of the work is impeccable. However, it is a performance quite unlike the Messiah intended by Handel. The orchestra has swelled to Wagnerian proportions, even adding instruments like the cymbal, the triangle and tubas, alien and unknown to Handel. It is a Romantic version of a Baroque work. That is potentially interesting. You might expect to gain extra depth, power and grandeur by this, but the overall effect is not good - to tell the truth, the result revolts me! It is like a woman overadorned with jewelry, hiding the natural beauty beneath a veil of vulgarity... This is one historic recording that we don't need.
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