Handel: Messiah album review — English Concert offers lively and comprehensive version

Past recordings of Handel’s Messiah are so numerous that it must be hard to present a new arrival that stands out from the crowd. It is to the credit of conductor John Nelson and the English Concert that they plough their own furrow with a profitable outcome.

This recording was made live at Coventry cathedral last year and contains more of Messiah that one could easily find in a single source elsewhere. A three-disc set, it includes two exceptionally well-filled audio CDs plus a video on DVD filmed at the same time.

Every conductor faces a choice between different versions of Messiah, representing the alternative arias and choruses that Handel wrote for specific occasions. Nelson has made his own pick ‘n’ mix, lighting upon some of the less familiar options, so we get the 1749 version of “He shall feed his flock” and the longer 1741 version of “O Death, where is thy sting?”, to name just two.

Then he adds a bonus in the form of eight tracks offering further alternative arias for each of the solo singers, including relative rarities.

In the past Nelson has not generally worked with period instruments, but he conducts a lively, stylish performance with the English Concert and Choir. Some of the choruses might have more punch (try the Gabrieli Consort for comparison) but the rhythmic lift is a delight and the soloists are good, especially soprano Lucy Crowe and tenor-for-all-seasons Michael Spyres. There is plenty here worth exploring.

★★★★☆

‘Handel: Messiah’ is released by Erato