Does the world need another Handel's Messiah?

The Saint Michael’s Singers join forces with the English Symphony Orchestra in what is not a Handel's Messiah must-buy

Composer: Handel
Repertoire: Messiah
Artists: Soloists; Saint Michael’s Singers; English SO/William Boughton
Rating: 1/5
Genre: Choral
Label: Nimbus NI 5709/10

It’s worth asking when recordings of Handel’s masterpiece already occupy yards of retail shelf-space. This new performance on Nimbus is, frankly, a non-starter, despite decent playing from the English Symphony Orchestra. The problem is that, for all its great solos, Messiah stands or falls on the delivery of its choruses, and Coventry’s Saint Michael’s Singers are just not up to the job.