Saturday 19 December, 2009
7pmAcademy of Ancient Music
Handel's Messiah
Richard Egarr director & harpsichord
Programme:
*** SOLD OUT- RETURNS ONLY ***
The final installment of the Academy of Ancient Music's 2009 Handel anniversary celebrations is a seasonal performance of the composer’s most enduring masterpiece, Messiah.
Soloists:
Elizabeth Watts
Michael Chance
Andrew Tortise
Christopher Purves
Handel’s oratorios are among the most cosmopolitan music of the baroque period. Written by a German émigré for a loyal British following, they fuse elements of the Italian operatic tradition with the liturgical style of the composer’s homeland. Handel’s oratorios, unlike Bach’s, were always conceived of for performance in concert rather than in church, a fact which earned him few friends among London’s ecclesiastical elite.
Having courted the wrath of the Bishop of London with an attempted performance of Esther in 1732, he wisely chose to premiere Messiah not in England but in Dublin. Even there, the dean (one Jonathan Swift, of Gulliver fame) almost thwarted the plan by forbidding his choristers from taking part; he relented only when Handel promised to give the proceeds of the concert to local charities.
Handel adapted Messiah readily to suit changing circumstances during his lifetime, so reconstructing a definitive “authentic” version of the work can be difficult. On this occasion we team up with the celebrated countertenor Michael Chance to shine the spotlight on the 1750 incarnation of the work, which starred the castrato Gaetano Guadagni rather than a female alto. Bringing the award-winning Choir of the AAM together with some of Britain’s finest oratorio soloists, this performance promises to be one of the highlights of London’s Christmas season.
Tickets*:
£35, £32, £28, £22, £15
Please note:
Online booking is only available up to midnight on the day prior to the performance. On the day bookings via telephone and counters sales only.
*Note: Certain ticket prices are currently only available via telephone.
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