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MessiahSaturday 4 December, 7.30 pm
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The Christchurch City Choir will be performing the full version of Handel’s Messiah again this year, after taking a break with tradition last year when they sang excerpts alongside seasonal songs in the annual Christmas concert last year.
The return of the Messiah will include soloists who are proven favourites with the local audience. Baritone bass Jared Holt will be making a welcome visit home to sing alongside soprano Dorothee Jansen, mezzo Anna Pierard and Christchurch tenor Andrew Grenon.
Music Director Brian Law said Messiah has become the traditional Christmas celebration, something of a musical gift to the city each year.“After the events of this year, the tried, true, familiar and loved will be even more highly valued,” Brian Law said. “It is a timeless work, and this year we have a splendid line up of soloists, which promises to make this a particularly enriching presentation of this perennial masterpiece.”
“The gradual build up towards the Hallelujah Chorus is one of the most cherished experiences for music lovers, with that glorious burst of voices that is instantly recognisable.”
“Each performance has a new dimension with the different soloists but there is always the same sense of anticipation towards the end of Part Two, when the music grows and onstage I can sense the audience’s anticipation. I can always feel their absolute enjoyment of the familiar Chorus and of course the whole work which is a magnificent creation.”
Critics comment on the crisp tempo Brian Law achieves with the Choir and a small flexible orchestra – “… moving forward as light as thistledown and as fleeting as Handel might have wished” (Timothy Jones, The Press).
Messiah is one of the world's best known and enjoyed sacred oratorios, and perhaps the most performed choral work in the world. Handel composed the music in about three weeks, to work with the biblical texts compiled by his friend Charles Jennen.
The first performance was Easter 1742, in the Festival Hall on Fishamble Street in Dublin, an event marked by a street plaque.