A true classic of historically informed performance practice,
Trevor Pinnock's 1988 recording of
George Frederick Handel's Messiah with the
English Concert and Choir is one of the finest versions available to offer authentic instruments and lively, embellished singing that is idiomatic to the Baroque period. With such superb soloists as soprano
Arleen Augér, contralto
Anne Sofie von Otter, countertenor
Michael Chance, tenor
Howard Crook, and bass
John Tomlinson performing at a consistently high level of vocal quality and interpretive skill, and with the choir singing with lean lines and crisp enunciation, the oratorio's text is perfectly understandable and enjoyable for its dramatic retelling of the Gospel narrative. But the musical glory of this recording is the marvelous sound of the
English Concert, which supplies the accompaniment with radiant sonorities and exciting rhythmic vitality, and makes this Messiah a clear demonstration of why rediscovering period practice is essential to revealing the true nature of early music. At the time of its release, this version was still a pioneering effort, competing against many other recordings of Messiah in a stodgy traditional style that bore the stylistic accretions of over two centuries. But
Pinnock and his fellows in the cause stripped away the musicological varnish and made knowledge of Baroque instrumentation and ornamentation essential to performing the music of
Handel and other composers of the era, and the effects of their efforts are obvious in most recordings of the 21st century.