;i1r,,*-==::xr - Chandos

given solos. As a good teacher he had led me
gradually to more demanding challenges: Bach's
Weihnachtsoratorium, Haydn's Schciptung, and
Handel's Messiah were among the works in which
I was pririleged lo take parl. antl one of thc "big'
days I have had as a singer was when he entrusted
me with the part of the Evmgelist in Bach's St.
John Passion.
I was truly honoured to record with him the
Messiah "Every Valley", Haydn's "Mit Wiird und
Hoheit", and uias by Bach. When these recordings
still, especially by American critics, are
commended for their quality and style, a great deal
of that recognition must be passed on to Mogens
Wtildike.
Wiildike's rehearsals with soloists had, with
all their relaxed mood, a feeling of exam. It went
without saying that you had done your utmost and
that you had learnt your lesson, so that he could put
his artistic stamp on your performance. Perhaps
"freedom under responsibility" tre words than can
be used about the coaching, for he was very
attentive to your concepts of the muslc.
From an intimate musical cooperation for
many years I knew Wijldike as a teacher, musician,
friend, and just as he has always given me the
finest music to sing, so he came quietly and as the
most natural thing in the world to my bed in the
Seraphim Hospital in Stockholm and/ed ne
oysters!
Aksel Schiotz on the Messiah:
The Messlah belongs to the personal heritage of
every English-speaking person from his euliest
school days and has become put of the cultural
backgrounds not only of musicians but of educated
persons in all nations. This great work retains its
freshness and odginality in spite of being
pertbmed every yer in every country and with
every possible interpretation.
The singers of Handel's time used
embellishments and appoggiaturas lavishly. I
doubt, however, that we should attempt historical
correctness in this respect. Besides, today's
fastidious musicians, be it right or wrong, would
probably not be able to accept everything that was
done by the Handelian singers. We should,
however, get as close as possible to the heafi and
core of Handel's music in our performances.
Misinterpretations of Handel's perfect phrases
can often be heild in performances of the Messiah
today. Strmge ritardandi and fermata ile sffewn all
through the score because the singers say, "this is
the way wepel it in our church," and Handel's
greatness is thereby tbolishly obscured. (This was
written by AS in 1970.)
The tenor's recitative "Comfofi ye, my
people" and the aria "Every valley shall be exalted"
open the work after the.hort . slalell orenure.
The first "Comforl ye" should be sung
preferably on the beat, simultaneously with the
chord, freely phrased but without distortion of the
rhythmical patten. The orchestra echoes this
rubato phrase but sets the beginning tempo
immediately at the following measure. The third
"Comfort ye" is cd /ih, as prescribed, then back to
tempo. The third line "and cry unto her" is also
rubato, but with the two eight notes "that her"
leading into tempo again.
In what I would call the "real" recitative, "The
voice of him that crieth in the wildemess, Prepre
ye the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert
a highway for our God," the prophet's cry
constitutes the central idea of the whole work. Here
the singer might use a broad and dignified