Handel: Messiah

Concert

Cast

Presentation

Homepage Handel: Messiah

Cast

Chiara Skerath Soprano

Reginald Mobley Alto

Krystian Adam Tenor

Raimund Nolte Bass

La Chapelle Harmonique

Gaétan Jarry Conductor

Presentation

The Messiah is a work whose fame surpasses all of Handel’s others: this oratorio was first performed in Dublin in 1742, and the success was resounding at its premiere. The demand for tickets was so great that men were asked to “refrain from wearing their swords,” and women to come “without hoop skirts,” in order to make room for more listeners, thus increasing the proceeds “for charitable works.” For the great alto aria “He was despised,” Reverend Delany was so moved in the hall that he stood up and exclaimed to the singer: “Woman, for this, may all your sins be forgiven!”

Performed again in London, The Messiah quickly became Handel’s flagship work. Played thirty-six times during his lifetime, it rapidly became a representation of what music can have of majestic and sublime. Charles Jennens wrote the libretto dedicated to Christ in three parts: the Nativity; Passion and Resurrection; Redemption. The ideal alternation of solo arias and choruses is admirable, and Handel’s lyrical mastery is present throughout the arias: smooth or victorious, they are among the composer’s finest. The memorable choruses have stayed in the ear for more than two hundred and fifty years… In London, King George II was so moved by the Hallelujah that he stood up, followed by the entire audience, and by all British audiences ever since.

The young Valentin Tournet, who has been associated with the programs of the Château de Versailles for four seasons, presents here his vision of Handel’s most famous oratorio: we await it with great anticipation!

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