Handel Messiah (1741)
Bernard Labadie, conductor
Lydia Teuscher, soprano
Iestyn Davies, counter-tenor
Jeremy Ovenden, tenor
Andrew Foster-Williams, bass
Choir of the AAM
CHRISTMAS wouldn’t be complete without a performance of Handel’s Messiah, so it’s easy to forget just how radical this masterpiece was in the eighteenth century.
Written when his popularity was beginning to fade, Handel’s new work occupied an uneasy position between liturgy and opera. But what made the church authorities hostile – the way in which Messiah took the christmas and Easter stories and imbued them with hitherto unknown allure and mmediacy – also ensured Handel’s success.
The musical and dramatic power of Messiah was undeniable, and the British public quickly took this glorious music to its heart. Countless performances sprung up throughout the country, and once whole communities had heard Messiah there was no going back.
Regular AAM guest conductor Bernard Labadie leads our festive performance, which features the Choir of the AAM and a cast including counter-tenor Iestyn Davies – who recently became the first British counter-tenor to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
TICKETS: £25, £35, £45, £55 available from the Cambridge Corn Exchange (£5 unsighted seats on door). Box office tel: 01223 357851; email: boxoffice@cambridge.gov.uk; online: www.cornex.co.uk/boxoffice
