Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

In the unlikely event of me being asked to compile a list of one hundred pieces of music to hear before you die, I would certainly include Handel's 'Messiah'. This does, though, beg the question of which version to recommend. My preferred guide to recorded classical music fills more than two pages discussing the 'Messiah' before sitting firmly on the fence and recommending nine complete CD versions plus another on DVD and then we turn the page and find yet more recommendations, this time for the '1751 version' plus 'Mozart's version in English'. So we are, dear reader, left with a wide choice and here we go again with yet another to throw into the mix. The "Goossens' Messiah", recorded for the first and, until now, only time by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus under Sir Thomas Beecham, has stood as a landmark in the classical catalogue for sixty years. Now Sir Eugene Goossens' richly orchestrated version can reach a new audience thanks to Dr Jonathan Griffith and DCINY, New York City's leading promoter of classical music. They assembled at the famous Abbey Road Studios in July 2019, to record the work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a chorus comprising sixty members of The Jonathan Griffith Singers, drawn from around the world, and sixty members of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. The new recording has captured the score's vibrant tone colours in high-definition sound making it much more palatable for digital listening, whether on CD or as a download. The four soloists are all worthy of praise, so take a bow Penelope Shumate (Soprano), Claudia Chapa (Mezzo-soprano), John McVeigh (Tenor), and Christopher Job (Bass-baritone). But is this the 'Messiah' for the twenty-first century? Well, make room for me on the fence too as I say Yes and No. Yes, because it is a masterpiece performed well and recorded very clearly but No because Goossens was of his time (he died in 1962) and was looking back to the grand Victorian tradition of assembling a big choir, backing it with a powerful orchestra, and giving it - to use a technical term - far more welly than George Frideric could have ever imagined. Listeners who want the full Monty, to use another technical term, will thoroughly enjoy this version. It is smoothly controlled throughout and the highlights, from "Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" through to "Hallelujah", are present and correct and the 134-minutes pass without dragging. But . . . Yes, there has to be a But. To my ears it is all a little too safe. Yes, I enjoyed it and yes, it is all done very well but there is no, shall we say, passion. At no point did my spine tingle and while I will keep this recording for reference, I do not think it will be the one that I return to when I want my soul to soar.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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