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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鈥檚 鈥楳essiah鈥 is one of the most popular choral works of all time. A staple of many amateur and professional festive concert seasons, it鈥檚 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鈥

Producer: Ruth Thomson

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Fri 2 Dec 2022 16:30

Music Played

  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Ambrosian Singers. Performer: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • VIRGIN.
    • VTDCD-323.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Saul - oratorio in 3 acts

    Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
    • COR 16103.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Saul - oratorio in 3 acts

    Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
    • COR 16103.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
    • COR 16062.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Nicholas Mulroy. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.
    • Linn.
    • CKD 285.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Maldwyn Davies. Performer: Sixteen Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDD-22019.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Matthew Brook. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.
    • Linn.
    • CKD 285.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Emma Kirkby. Performer: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • Decca.
    • 430 4882.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Claire Wilkinson. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.
    • Linn.
    • CKD 285.
  • 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.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Le Concert d鈥橝str茅e. Conductor: Emmanuelle Ha茂m.
    • Erato.
    • GBAYC1402237.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Kobie van Rensburg. Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Ren茅 Jacobs.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • HMC 901928/29.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Nicholas Mulroy. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.
    • Linn.
    • CKD 285.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.
    • Linn.
    • CKD 285.
  • 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.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Annie Gill. Performer: Nicholas Mulroy. Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt.
    • Linn.
    • CKD 285.
  • 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.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Handel Festival Chorus. Performer: Handel Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Henry Wood.
    • Symposium.
    • SYMPCD-1251.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Huddersfield Choral Society. Performer: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.
    • EMI.
    • 5757762.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Chorus. Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Beecham.
    • RCA.
    • 09026-61266-2.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: English Baroque Soloists. Performer: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 434 297-2.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Huddersfield Choral Society. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.
    • EMI.
    • 5757762.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Vicki Brown. Performer: George Parker. Performer: The New London Chorale. Performer: TOM PARKER.
    • RCA.
    • G010000267536A.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Gabrieli Consort. Performer: Gabrieli Players. Performer: Paul McCreesh.
    • Archiv.
    • E453 4642.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Sounds of Blackness.
    • Reprise.
    • 9 26980-2.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah

    Performer: Les Arts Florissants Orchestra. Performer: William Christie.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • HAF 890149899.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Dec 2021 17:00
  • Fri 17 Dec 2021 16:30
  • Fri 2 Dec 2022 16:30

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