Handel's Messiah - The Scotsman

Choosing a recording of Handel's Messiah hasn't got any easier, thanks to the current spate of new releases on the market [including] the much-anticipated recreation of Handel's original 1742 Dublin premiere by the Edinburgh-based Dunedin Consort, under John Butt's direction. Butt's Dunedin version bases its dimensions and configuration of movements on the 1742 premiere, which Handel directed in Dublin. Butt calls it "a little concert version", featuring a mere dozen singers and miniature orchestra of only strings, trumpets and timpani. It is riveting. Balance is never a problem with Dunedin's radiant and intimate recording: its Hallelujah chorus sturdy, effortless and exultant; its small band of singers, from which the soloists emerge, perfectly matched. In the final reckoning, if I had to make a choice between recordings, my money would go on Dunedin's Messiah. It has a genuine sparkle which lifts Handel's music above the ordinary, and a fresh angle for just about every moment.