In Handel's day this best-loved of all oratorios was performed by fewer than forty instrumentalists and a chorus, less than thirty strong, of boy trebles and men. That is the tradition to which Christopher Hogwood has returned in his performances with the Academy of Ancient Music.
Members of the Academy all play instruments of the period or accurate modern copies. In this recording the choruses are sung by boy trebles and male altos, tenors and basses, members of the Choir of Westminster Abbey....
Top Cast
CH
Christopher HogwoodConductor
JU
Judith NelsonSoprano 1
EM
Emma KirkbySoprano 2
CA
Carolyn WatkinsonContralto
PA
Paul ElliottTenor
DA
David ThomasBass
SI
Simon PrestonOrganist and Master of the Choristers