Samson

"Recommended" - "Handel wrote Samson around the same time as Messiah, and in his day it was probably his most popular oratorio. I suspect the reason why we don't hear it so much now is its sheer scale and length ... In short, this is superb, the best Handel oratorio I've heard in years. Its individual components are all first rate, but the cumulative whole is even more effective than the sum of its parts when you consider the packaging, the scholarship and the overall impact. The excellent historical notes from Ruth Smith only seal the deal".

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"Samson (1743) has always been popular among Handel's great oratorios ... But early on you begin to question whether the music stands up to Handel's greatest works of the early 1740s, Messiah and L'Allegro, especially when it is recorded here with totally uncut recitatives. However, towards the end of Act 2, with the superb chorus Hear, Jacob's God, it suddenly deepens, and Act 3 is a masterpiece ... Butt directs with vigour: Joshua Ellicott could hardly be a more different Samson from the stentorian Jon Vickers of yesteryear, light and eloquent; Sophie Bevan is a sensual Delilah, while Dunedin regulars excel".

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"Even at the time, Sutherland's performance had everyone agog ... The other soloists make a strong team ... The snag on this recording is not only the limited instrumental sound but the roughness of the string-playing, surprising when Raymond Leppard was conducting".

"Editor's choice: This new Samson now becomes the top recommendation: for its uniformly excellent soloists, its excitingly 'present' choral singing and, above all, its more urgent sense of theatre ... Sophie and Mary Bevan, both natural Handelian stylists, are well-nigh ideal ... Jess Dandy, a true contralto, is the oratorio's voice of balm, singing the sublime prayer 'Return, O God of hosts' with warm, even tone and broad phrasing".

"This live recording made at Dresden's Frauenkirche offers plenty of exciting and near-ideal interpretations of many individual moments, and so it is now the best interpretation of some aspects of Samson on disc, although its few drawbacks prevent it from knocking The Sixteen's version off it perch".