Last night I attended the annual performance of Handel's Messiah by the RSO symphony with the RPC chorus and soloists. Messiah is an oratorio ( music for orchestra, choir and soloists) composed by George Frideric Handel with libretto (the text for the music) by Charles Jennens and first performed in Dublin in 1742. All the words are from the King James Bible as selected by Charles Jennens and put to music by Handel.
I have attended the Messiah performance for several years now and really love it. It is performed in two parts with the first being the prophecies of the Messiah to the story of his birth, and then the second has his death and resurrection and his kingdom.
In the first part I specially enjoyed:
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
For unto us a child is born and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God and the Prince of Peace
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He Shall Reign For Ever and Ever
Hallelujah!
The first part ends with the powerful Hallelujah chorus and everyone stands following the tradition that King George II stood for this chorus at the first performance.
In the second part I particularly enjoyed:
Since by man came death - Also by man came the resurrection
The trumpet shall sound - And the dead shall be raised incorruptible.
Blessing and Glory and Honour be unto Him
Amen
It ends with great volume with the symphony, the pipe organ and choir in the Amen chorus. The sound in the church is just incredible in these parts. I thoroughly enjoyed this year's performance.
1 comment:
You make me green with envy. We have not been to a concert in two years. Will start checking the listings in Dnipropetrovsk
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