Handel's Messiah

RECORDINGS OF THE WORKS

Georg Friedrich Händel: Messias

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Handel's Messiah

Description

For almost 300 years the oratorio Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) has moved people around the world. Few works in music history have had such a profound significance as Messiah. Handel composed the masterpiece in just 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 back to health from depression. “Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it, I don’t know. God knows!”, Handel exclaimed after completing Messiah. Handel was an opera composer. It shows in 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. Handel himself saw Messiah as music for Eastertide, but around the world the work has become a beloved Christmas tradition. For us it is no exception. Handel's Messiah is our signature work. The audience success is repeated In 2024 the concert at Scene 2 in the Opera sold out after a short time, in addition to record sales in churches in Halden and Porsgrunn. We then had the Irish conductor Peter Whelan, our curator for early music, with us. We have him this year as well. Peter is also artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, which received the prestigious Olivier Award in 2022. The orchestra was a guest at the BBC Proms in 2025 to great acclaim. In 2026 they released their own recording of Messiah, taking the work back to Handel's time and the premiere in Dublin in 1742. Now you can experience our distinctive chamber version, arranged by the trumpeter Stian Aareskjold. This year's choir consists of hand-picked soloists, who will also each sing solo. Welcome to the concert! Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one interval. Performers: Peter Whelan, conductor Soloist 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 seats are unnumbered. The doors open 30 minutes before the concert begins. In the University Aula a cloakroom is compulsory.