Handel's Messiah

RECORDINGS OF THE WORKS

Georg Friedrich Händel: Messias

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Address

Elvestredet,
1767 Halden

Handel's Messiah

Description

For nearly 300 years the oratorio Messiah by Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759) has moved people around the world. Few works in music history have had as strong an impact as Messiah. Händel composed the masterpiece in only 24 days, a period of his life marked by personal and financial problems. It is said that as the music poured out of the composer, he was filled with new energy and wrote himself well from depression. “Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it, I don’t know. God knows!”, exclaimed Händel after finishing Messiah. Händel was an opera composer. This marks the work with its melodies, contrasts and power. The oratorio consists of three parts depicting the life and message of Jesus, from the prophecies and the birth, through the suffering and death to victory and resurrection. Händel for his part saw Messiah as music for Eastertide, but the work has become a beloved Christmas tradition the world over. For us it is no exception. Händel's Messiah is our signature work. The audience success is repeated In 2024 the concert at Scene 2 at the Opera House sold out after a short time, in addition to record sales in churches in Halden and Porsgrunn. Then we had with us the Irish Peter Whelan, our curator of early music, as conductor. We have him this year too. Peter is also artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, which in 2022 received the prestigious Olivier Award. The orchestra guested at the BBC Proms in 2025 to great success. In 2026 they released their own recording of Messiah, in which they take the work back to Händel's time and the premiere in Dublin in 1742. Now you can experience our distinctive chamber-music version, arranged by the trumpeter Stian Aareskjold. This year's choir consists of hand-picked soloists, who will all also sing solo. Welcome to the concert! Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutes, incl. one interval. Performers: Peter Whelan, conductor Solo choir: Soprano: Aisling Kenny, Charlotte O’Hare, Anna Veiteberg Alto: Eilís Dexter, Tobias Knaus, Margarita Slepakova Tenor: Graham Cooper, Aaron O’Hare, Edward Woodhouse Bass: Eric Ander, Christopher Webb, David Wijkman NB: In the churches the seating is unnumbered. Doors open 30 minutes before the concert starts. In Universitetets Aula there is a mandatory cloakroom.