Tippett's timeless masterpiece

Michael Tippett was 86-years-old when he conducted his own work A Child of Our Time on this striking, taunt recording

Composer:  Tippett
Repertoire:  A Child of Our Time
Artists: Soloists, CBSO & Chorus/Michael Tippett
Rating:  5/5
Genre: Orchestral 
Label: Naxos 8.557570

This unique recording was conducted by the composer himself in 1991 when he was 86. The oratorio, with its reminiscences of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Passions, its use of jazz and, most strikingly, Negro spirituals, is an English 20th-century choral masterpiece. Other versions may be more tautly controlled but none is as warmly expressive and, yes, moving. The soloists and chorus make outstanding contributions.