Decca's 41-CD set of Handel's "The Great Oratorios"

[Lance]

You get sixteen oratorios in this lavishly-produced set. You may hear other performances you prefer, however, it is appealing to have all these in one decent-sized box.

Oratorios include: La Resurrezione; Acis & Galatea; Esther; Athalia; Alexander's Feast; Saul; Israel in Egypt (set includes 2 Coronation Anthems); Messiah; Samson; Semele; Hercules; Belshazzar; Judas Maccabaeus; Solomon; Theodora, and Jephtha.

Conductors include: Hogwood, Gadiner, Pinnock, Christophers, John Nelson, Minkowski, Mackerras, and Mc Creesh. Vocal artists include: Carolyn Wilkinson, David Thomas, Norma Burrowes, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Ian Partridge, David Thomas, Patrizia Kwella, Joan Sutherland, Emma Kirkby, Donna Brown, Ashley Stafford, Nigel Robson, Stephen Varcoe, Alastair Miles, Derek Lee Ragin, Ruth Holton, Elisabeth Priday, Jonathan Peter Kenny, Michael Chance, Julian Clarkson, Christopher Purves, Philip Salmon, Arleen Auger, Willard White, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Randle, Mark Padmore, Lynda Russell, Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Samuel Ramey, Gidon Saks, Ryland Davies, Andreas Scholl, Paul Agnew, Susan Gritton, Susan Bickley, Robin Blaze, and Lynne Dawson.

All are in gatefold albums and a decent booklet accompanies the set.

A good buy, for sure!

[barney]

This has arrived, but I haven't opened it yet. It's a huge bonus for me because there's half a dozen that I didn't have a full copy of.
Do you know all/most of the recordings on this set, Lance? Are there any you particularly esteem?

[Lance]

I have only heard one of the oratorios, The Resurrection, and my initial reaction was one of some disappointment - not particularly with the performance, but with the sound. So I am winding my way through as time allows. Right now, I'm heavy into Mendelssohn's choral works, particularly Elijah, I believe to be my most loved oratorio.

This has arrived, but I haven't opened it yet. It's a huge bonus for me because there's half a dozen that I didn't have a full copy of.
Do you know all/most of the recordings on this set, Lance? Are there any you particularly esteem?

[barney]

I have only heard one of the oratorios, The Resurrection, and my initial reaction was one of some disappointment - not particularly with the performance, but with the sound. So I am winding my way through as time allows. Right now, I'm heavy into Mendelssohn's choral works, particularly Elijah, I believe to be my most loved oratorio.

This has arrived, but I haven't opened it yet. It's a huge bonus for me because there's half a dozen that I didn't have a full copy of.
Do you know all/most of the recordings on this set, Lance? Are there any you particularly esteem?

Yes, Elijah is under-performed, I believe.

[Lance]

I'm beginning to delve into this glorious set once again. It's a big listening project given the scope of Handel's numerous oratorios. With Decca's claim to many other labels now under the Universal blanket, they can draw from a number of sources, which they did to produce this set. I see the price climbing on this set - as I see Amazon doing regularly these days. But, 41 CDs for $3 or $4/USD per disc is still quite a bargain. Once all the retail outlets are shut down (such as MDT recently did), Amazon's prices will go skyward, plus their shipping rates. You can bet on it.

[barney]

I'm not going to bet against you on that.
Which oratorios have you most enjoyed so far? To my shame, I know only a few of them.

[John F]

Other than "Messiah," which is inescapable at Christmastime, Handel's oratorios aren't much performed in the US except by Boston's Handel and Haydn Society. Arias from them, such as "Sound an Alarm" and "O Had I Jubal's Lyre," used to be frequent concert items, but not any momre. It's too bad, because they're not only pleasing in their own right but show the singer's quality.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToQ9a5Z4t3g


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onVfWPAi-_Y

Lilli Lehmann's intonation is occasionally off, but she was the leading Isolde and Brünnhilde of her time and was nearly 60 when she made her recordings. They don't make sopranos like that any more.

[maestrob]

Just for the record, I'm more a fan of Handel's operas than of his oratorios, although I have performed Messiah extensively in (now) Geffen Hall and Carnegie Hall. I did sing Solomon in Carnegie Hall with David Randolph in the late 1970's, and enjoyed the piece with its double chorus. The others, like you, Barney, I've never explored, except Semele, which I liked but never performed or even had the score.

[John F]

For me it's the other way around. Handel was the greatest melodist of the Baroque, and he did his best to avert the monotony of texture and form typical of Baroque opera. But as the unbroken string of arias continues, with the rare duet and possibly an act-ending chorus, I have to force myself to keep paying attention. The oratorios gave Handel far greater scope and often ascend to grandeur beyond anything in Baroque opera. Of course everybody knows the Hallelujah chorus in "Messiah," though it hasn't lost its ability to thrill me. But the other major oratorios are full of riches, such as "He gave them hailstones for rain" in "Israel in Egypt":


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMGSdynQrak

How about that bass line at "ra-a-a-a-a-an along the ground"? Brilliant.