Favorite classical oratorio?

[SiobhanClancy]

hee..hee...just couldn't help myself,with all these "favorite songs by ?"polls:)

[Drifter]

1. I was thinking porn ...

but apparently you wern't.

Cheers
Drifter

[Snow]

2. Hoooo, Verdi's Requiem,

especially the "Dies Irae". But the "tuba verum" is difficult, because the basses (me included) are having to compete volume-wise with the low brass, ie tuba & trombones, and they're between us and the audience. We (the Omaha Symphony) did the entire Handel Messiah a coupla seasons ago, loved it, but we were exhausted at the end of each performance. The reviewers noticed it, too, and remarked on "the chorus was exhilarated but exhausted from thier work." Knew I shouldn't have left my tongue hanging out!

[GOPisEvil]

4. I can't decide between Requiem and Messiah...

:nuke:

[Sick of Bullshit]

17. Messiah, definitely

Greatest oratorio ever written

[SiobhanClancy]

5. How could I leave that off?

Mea culpa,mea culpa,mea maxima culpa:)

Scarlatti has given way to Verdi.

[Maple]

3. Classical!

NOW yer talkin'!

[JitterbugPerfume]

6. The Messiah

I will never forget the first time I heard it, so many years ago

That was when I started a love affair with classical music

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. On my lifetime "to do" list

is singing in a performance of the St. Matthew Passion.

(Well, my choir is going to do the B Minor Mass this year, so I guess I'll have to be content with that.)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Haydn's Creation sung in Korean

is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

[TrogL]

9. I am so SICK of Handel's Messiah

It isn't very good and it's usually badly sung with too big an orchestra and choir.

A few years ago, somebody was trying to get a moritorium on over-played Oratorios off the ground so we'd get to hear some of the lesser played ones.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. I've fallen asleep playing Messiah gigs...

During "He Shall Feed His Flock"...when it's performed too slowly.

[Snow]

13. Okay, try this

stay away from the Beecham recording - it's the one all the church choir/amateur chorus directors work from and it's mostly a really slow tempo - not to mention the huge orchestra and chorus thing.

When we (the Omaha symphony) did it, we had less than 50 people in the chorus, and the orchestra was reduced as well. And our very capable conductor, Viktor Yampolsky, had by then worked with us enough that he had a feel for balance between chorus and orchestra, and by golly he achieved. And the tempo was much more lively than what you may have heard. Also, we did not use the G. Schirmer edition of Messiah - I don't remember the publisher, but it was an older version. Schirmer is very much late 1800's style. I'll point you to some recordings if you like....it's a glorious oratorio and you shouldn't be put off by bad draggy pompous performances.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. The Portland Baroque Orchestra

does Messiah with about twenty singers and a small coterie of musicians. It's an entirely different experience.

However, my stepfather, who was a church musician for 50 years, cannot stand Messiah in any way, shape, or form. He's still okay with the St. Matthew Passion, though.

[MaineDem]

10. Mozart's Requiem

We sang it in high school and it's still one of my (chilling) favorites.

[MaineDem]

11. Carmina Burana

O Fortuna

Another of my favorites although it's become commercialized lately.

[carpetbagger]

14. Handel's Samson.

The first two movements are generally slow with some really good tone coloring regarding light. The third movement is almost Wagnerian in the dramatics, and then the whole thing goes back to the light stuff.

[Cheswick2.0]

15. Bernstein , Chichester Psalms

I sang it in HS and it has always been a favorite. I also love the Verdi.