I don't believe in letting others determine my self-worth . . .
but a five-star review sure is nice!
The whole review here.
A portion here:
Leppard molded this exquisite music like raw clay, fashioning it into a sculpturesque masterpiece that surely would have pleased Handel. Everything clicked, from the edgy string playing to John McElroy's piccolo trumpet, from dramatic airs by the vocal soloists to the engaged singers of the 120-strong Birmingham Concert Chorale, who seemed genuinely excited about finding unique insights in a 266-year-old staple.
A highlight reel might begin with the Sinfonia, the ASO strings crisp and lively with incisively-etched imitation in the fugue, and end with a spine-tingling "Amen" that retained its transparency despite full-throttled volume.
The conductor's insistence on concise choral singing, even in the difficult melismas, paid off in "And He shall purify" and "Since by Man came Death," in which a chamber choir of 24 alternated with full chorus. In "But Thanks be to God," the quartet of soloists took a choral role. The three-dimensional depth in these modifications was striking.
---The "Hallelujah" chorus is hard to upstage, but the BCC, ably prepared by Philip Copeland, delivered just as much heart and passion to the less prominent, and in many ways more difficult, "His Yoke is easy" and "All we, like Sheep."
Leppard has given Birmingham an intelligent and fluid "Messiah" that overwhelmed the heart without numbing the senses, and which is likely to be pondered for some time.The whole review here.
