There is no shortage of good performances of Haydn's oratorio The Creation in the catalogue. Until the appearance of this one the most recent was that directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt on Teldec/ASV and favourably reviewed by HF. I am only partly satisfied by this new release; the St Paul Chamber Orchestra is impressive, above all in the opening ''Representation of Chaos'' but throughout the oratorio, too. The chorus sounds lively and not too large and the soloists are a gifted if not entirely well-matched team. Lynne Dawson is enchanting and sings her solos with a good sense of style, well-controlled vibrato and accuracy, her aria, ''Nun beut die Flur das frische Grun'' in Part 1 is especially appealing, though there are occasional moments when she sounds unsettled. John Cheek has a pleasing voice but he tends towards bluster and does not always find the centre of his notes. I got on less well with Neil Rosenshein. His vibrato is too wide and his voice has a hard edge to it.
The chief problem in this performance, which has several engaging qualities, is one of balance. Why is the choir relegated to a position of secondary importance to that of the orchestra? The result is regrettable since it prevents us from hearing much in the way of detail or anything approaching clarity of texture. I found most of Joel Revzen's tempos effective and likewise his sense of dramatic pacing. The orchestra, as I have already said, makes a fine showing so it is all the more a pity that the choir is obliged to speak with such a woolly voice. Revzen has given thought to points of style preferring a fortepiano to a modern one yet, in the end, with a powerful-sounding orchestra of present-day instruments the effect is not, perhaps, quite what it should be.
To conclude, I can recommend this version only with qualification. On balance I prefer Lynne Dawson's contribution to that of any of her competitors and the warm sound and tidy ensemble of the orchestra are a constant delight. However, I fear that listeners will be dismayed by the fluffy-sounding chorus to which justice is quite clearly not done in this instance.'