George Frideric Handel - Messiah (Charles Mackerras)

Information

Composer: George Frideric Handel

• Messiah, HWV 56
• Water Music, Suites Nos. 1–3, HWV 348–350

Elizabeth Harwood

Janet Baker

Paul Esswood

Robert Tear

Raimund Herincx

Ambrosian Singers

English Chamber Orchestra

Prague Chamber Orchestra

Charles Mackerras, conductor

Date: 1967, 1978 / 2026

Label: Warner Classics

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This recording marks an important milestone in the discography of Charles Mackerras’s retrospective interpretation of Messiah, featuring leading classical vocalists including Janet Baker, Elizabeth Harwood, Robert Tear, and Paul Esswood. As the first recording based on Basil Lam’s influential edition, it helped transform approaches to Baroque oratorio performance. The interpretation emphasized historically informed ornamentation and captured the rhythmic vitality characteristic of 18th-century musical practice, setting a new standard for authenticity and stylistic awareness in performances of Handel’s masterpiece.

Sir Charles Mackerras (1925–2010), born in the United States to Australian parents, was an internationally celebrated conductor known for his mastery of opera, symphonic, and Czech repertoire. After studying in Sydney and Prague, he held key posts with major institutions including the Hamburg Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. A champion of Mozart and Janáček, he conducted acclaimed productions worldwide and made landmark recordings with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic. Knighted in 1979, Mackerras received numerous international honors and academic distinctions, leaving an enduring legacy of musical excellence and historically informed interpretation.