MESSIAH

Along for the ride: several hundred singers from amateur choirs across the city!

Even the less classically inclined would recognize the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah if nothing else. Arguably his most famous work among German audiences, he composed it at a turning point in his career. After failing financially with his opera endeavours, the already famous composer increasingly turned to the dazzling genre of the oratorio, with its magnificent choral work. He produced numerous compositions, often drawing on mythological subjects. Unlike very theatrical oratorios such as Semele, Jephtha, or Saul, Messiah focuses entirely on the contemplative character of the Old and New Testament verses that librettist Charles Jennens selected for the text. In the German-speaking world, Messiah thus became the epitome of the genre, the quintessential oratorio.

In his book Decisive Moments in History , Stefan Zweig recounts with literary inventiveness and convincing truthfulness how George Frideric Handel was ‘resurrected’ through his composing of Messiah.