He was despised

[Brunnhilde66]

a gorgeous voice & singer...but this is too low for her.

[galleryofbrokenparts]

She sings it beautifully, but this is one of my least favorite parts of the Messiah.

[manthasagittarius]

Beautiful. What a lovely instrument. I would have loved to hear her do the B section and the da capo -- I bet she can be as fiery as she is earthy.

[gavinfarkas]

Such a lovely lyric voice! Nice ornamentation! I'm an atheist and this still makes me think deeper into theism.

[RaeleenandScott]

cool

[KoPT01]

I think he was despised.

[pjacobo]

Isaiah 53:1-3

"Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."

[lunareflection]

Beautiful. I have heard the Carnegie Hall rendition of Messiah a while ago (or, part of it, at least) and this was the one song I feel in love with. Alexandra Sherman performs this so well (and not only because I have a strange bias towards lower female voices).

Thank you so much for posting this.

[Brace67]

Nicely done. A beautiful version with some well placed ornamentation by the vocalist.

[elainezmaher]

Ok, she has credentials, but why would she have you say the wrong sound when vocally it's a disadvantage to say "Ih" instead of the more open and easier "eh"?I have never heard the term "tall" i, what do you mean?

[elainezmaher]

very good,!! but I do wish you'd say des instead of dispised.

[dulcicantor]

I've worked with Katherine LaBouff (English diction coach at the Met), and it is indeed dispised (tall i).

[goblinonacloud]

In the Messiah, Handel wrote it for a contralto and you should have heard Marian Anderson sing this! Alexandra Sherman is classed not as a Mezzo Soprano but a Mezzo Contralto. Depending upon a Mezzo soprano's range a mezzo soprano could and has many times sung this piece. Miss Sherman's rendition is one of my favourites. Bravo!

[mezzovivere84]

i think the pacing is great! too slow will kill ya. i just had to learn this in one week for a last minute performance engagement. melismas are cake... its the slow that is deadly!

[jls850807]

I think she has the best alto voice I have ever heard.

[shoshanakitty]

my community chorus did the messiah once, it was a wonderful, and rewarding experience, but the director paced this peice way too fast, this recording is what I would call just about perfect.  ms. sherman's voice is fantastic!

[abbagailcreations]

Isaiah Chapter 53 for the full script!

[mimibadria]

you always the best !!!

[Brace67]

A beautiful rendition of "He was Despised", from Handel's Messiah. The singer places into the song, subtile embelishments in her voice which were popular in Handel's 18th Century and she sings the piece perfectly and in total harmony with the orchestra. Thank you for this posting.

[chorister51]

I love her voice. She sings this beautifuly.

[Jasminbaby]

beautiful vocal quality, best of the utube Handel contraltos!

[hillevifan]

no Charlotte Hellekant is! she is breathtaking

[ufayad]

charlotte is pretty good, although a bit too melodramatic for my tastes in this song

[matryuska87]

She is clearly a mezzo.

The contralto is other thing.

[mimiyuyu779]

great performance and angelic voice you great!!!!!