Latest release on VIVAT brings Mendelssohn’s astonishing reconstruction
of Handel’s great
oratorio Israel in Egypt. Mendelssohn’s 1833 Düsseldorf performance has
been painstakingly
reconstructed from fragments and sources across Europe: the large and colourful
orchestra,
playing nineteenth-century instruments, produces vivid new sonorities, and the
double choir
sings magnificently. Listeners familiar with Handel’s 1739 version will
also find new numbers,
significant changes to the order of movements and very different orchestrations.
The work starts with a thrilling, pure-Mendelssohn overture, mixing life and
energy with moments of exquisitely shifting instrumental colours.
- Fine solo singing from solo sopranos Lydia Teuscher and Julia Doyle, alto Hilary Summers, tenor Benjamin Hulett, and bass Roderick Williams: Robert King and The King’s Consort are on top form.
- Recorded in the splendid acoustic of St Jude’s, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, where TKC have made more than 65 recordings.
- Extensive presentation includes 60 page booklet with authoritative liner notes in three languages by renowned Mendelssohn expert Prof Larry Todd and by Robert King, full libretto and translation, session photographs and reproductions of Mendelssohn’s manuscripts.