Handel's Messiah: Hallelujah!
Tom Service lifts the lid on Handel's Messiah.
Written in just 24 days, premiered in Dublin almost 280 years ago, and performed thousands of times since, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is one of the most popular choral works of all time. A staple of many amateur and professional festive concert seasons, it’s also raised huge amounts of money for charity through the annual Foundling Hospital performances and Scratch Messiahs, which now take place all over the world.
But what exactly is the Messiah? How and why did Handel write it? And does its familiarity make us take it for granted? Tom Service investigates…
Producer: Ruth Thomson
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Ambrosian Singers. Performer: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.- VIRGIN.
- VTDCD-323.
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George Frideric Handel
Saul - oratorio in 3 acts
Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- CORO.
- COR 16103.
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George Frideric Handel
Saul - oratorio in 3 acts
Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- CORO.
- COR 16103.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- CORO.
- COR 16062.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Nicholas Mulroy. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
- CKD 285.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Maldwyn Davies. Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- HYPERION.
- CDD-22019.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Matthew Brook. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
- CKD 285.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Emma Kirkby. Performer: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.- Decca.
- 430 4882.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Claire Wilkinson. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
- CKD 285.
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Henry Purcell
Dido and Aeneas - opera in 3 acts Z.626
Performer: Sarah Connolly. Performer: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Performer: Elizabeth Kenny. Performer: Steven Devine.- CHANDOS.
- CHAN-0757.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Le Concert d’Astrée. Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm.- Erato.
- GBAYC1402237.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Kobie van Rensburg. Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: René Jacobs.- Harmonia Mundi.
- HMC 901928/29.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Nicholas Mulroy. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
- CKD 285.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
- CKD 285.
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George Frideric Handel
Quel fior che all' alba ride - Italian duet no.15 HWV.192 for 2 sopranos and continuo
Performer: Emma Kirkby. Performer: Judith Nelson. Performer: Susan Sheppard. Performer: Christopher Hogwood.- Decca.
- 478 7106.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Annie Gill. Performer: Nicholas Mulroy. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.- Linn.
- CKD 285.
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George Frideric Handel
Se tu non lasci amore - Italian duet no.14 HWV.193 for soprano, alto and continuo
Performer: Roberta Invernizzi. Performer: Marina de Liso. Performer: La Risonanza.- Glossa.
- GCD 921516.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Handel Festival Chorus. Performer: Handel Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Henry Wood.- Symposium.
- SYMPCD-1251.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Huddersfield Choral Society. Performer: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.- EMI.
- 5757762.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Royal Philharmonic Chorus. Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Beecham.- RCA.
- 09026-61266-2.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- PHILIPS.
- 434 297-2.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Huddersfield Choral Society. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.- EMI.
- 5757762.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Vicki Brown. Performer: George Parker. Performer: The New London Chorale. Performer: TOM PARKER.- RCA.
- G010000267536A.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Gabrieli Consort. Performer: Gabrieli Players. Performer: Paul McCreesh.- Archiv.
- E453 4642.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Sounds of Blackness.- Reprise.
- 9 26980-2.
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Les Arts Florissants Orchestra. Performer: William Christie.- Harmonia Mundi.
- HAF 890149899.
Broadcasts
- Sun 12 Dec 2021 17:00BBC Radio 3
- Fri 17 Dec 2021 16:30BBC Radio 3
- Fri 2 Dec 2022 16:30BBC Radio 3
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An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service
