Haendel : Le Messie

CHRISTMAS AT THE CHAPELLE ROYALE Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) Messiah Saturday 12 December, 8pm Sunday 13 December, 4pm Chapelle Royale Concert sung in English, with French surtitles Duration: 3h including interval Part one: 1h20 Interval…

CHRISTMAS AT THE CHAPELLE ROYALE

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759)

Messiah

Saturday 12 December, 8pm

Sunday 13 December, 4pm

Chapelle Royale

Concert sung in English, with French surtitles

Duration: 3h including interval

Part one: 1h20

Interval

Part two: 1h10

Messiah is a work whose renown surpasses that of all other Handel compositions. This oratorio, first given in Dublin in 1742, enjoyed a resounding success at its premiere: demand for tickets was such that gentlemen were asked to "refrain from wearing their swords" and ladies to come "without hooped skirts", in order to make room for more listeners and thus increase the takings "intended for charitable works". For the great alto aria "He was despised", the Reverend Delany called out to the singer: "Woman, for that, may all your sins be forgiven!" Taken up in London, Messiah quickly became Handel's flagship work. Performed thirty-six times during his lifetime, it soon came to represent everything music can offer of majesty and sublimity. Charles Jennens built the libretto, devoted to Christ, in three parts: the Nativity, the Passion and the Resurrection, the Redemption. The ideal alternation of solo arias and choruses is admirable, and Handel's lyrical mastery is present throughout the arias: sweet or triumphant, they are among the finest of the composer's output. The memorable choruses have stayed in the ear for more than two hundred and fifty years... In London, King George II was so struck by the "Hallelujah" that he rose in emotion, followed by the entire audience, and by every British audience since. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra Royal, conducted by Théotime Langlois de Swarte, will perfectly accompany a quartet of young singers of the very first order.