Search - George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gerard Schwarz :: Arleen Auger - Handel · Bach Arias / The Mostly Mozart Orchestra · Gerard Schwarz

Absolutely Marvelous

Lois C. Fleming | Chicago Suburbs, USA | 09/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know some American critics sometimes complained in reviews that Arleen Auger lacked dramatic power, life - whatever. Quite frankly, I don't care. Her voice is so pure and clear, her high notes so secure and her technically difficult passages executed with such precision that I think either Bach or Handel would have been touched and blest to hear her singing these glorious old war horses of their repertoire.



Of all the way-too-many recordings of Messiah I've collected in 35 years, from Malcolm Sargent on LP, through the newest CDs, Auger's soprano solos on the Pinnock recording are the most consistently beautiful of them all. Much as I like von Otter's voice (she is the mezzo for Pinnock's Messiah), I've substituted "He Shall Feed His Flock/ Come Unto Him" from this recording in my digital line up instead of the duet, because Auger singing both parts is simply sublime. That's the Messiah I would take to my desert island, and this solo album is one of my favorites in a collection of over 3,000."