Jakub Józef Orliński sings arias by George Frideric Handel and Henry Purcell, and mélodies by Tadeusz Baird and Paweł Łukaszewski, with Michał Biel (HD 1080p)

On a summer evening at the Theatre de l'Archeveche, countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński performs a concert of arias by Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel and mélodies by Tadeusz Baird and Paweł Łukaszewski. He is accompanied by Michał Biel on piano.

 

1. George Frideric Handel: Tolomeo, re d'Egitto, HWV 25, Act 3: "Che più si tarda omai" [00:48]*

2. Henry Purcell: Music for a While [08:27]

3. Henry Purcell: If music be the food of love [12:55]

Tadeusz Baird: Four Love Sonnets (1956) to texts by Shakespeare 

4. No.1, Spójrz, co tu ciche serce wypisało [17:43]

5. No.2, Drwię, mając ciebie, z całej ludzkiej pychy [20:20]

6. No.3, Słodka miłości [22:36]

7. No.4, Jakże podobna zimie jest rozłąka [25:33]

8. Paweł Łukaszewski: Three Songs: No.1, Jesień (Autumn) [29:13]

9. Georg Frideric Handel: Rodelinda, Regina di Longobardi HWV 19, Act 3: "Un zeffiro spiro" [33:06]

10. Henry Purcell: Strike the viol [38:22]

* Start time of each work

Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor

Michał Biel, piano

Theatre de l'Archeveche, Festival d'Aix en Provence, June 30, 2020

(HD 1080p)

“Orlinski is the real countertenor deal, one of the best I've heard on the operatic (or any other) stage: an exceptional legato, no loss of power in the lower reaches, attentive diction, superb histrionic flair. He has, in short, raised the bar decisively for what we can expect of this voice type in this repertory.” — Roger Parker, Opera, October 2019

Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński has quickly emerged as one of the most vibrant performers on the international classical music scene, triumphing on stage, in concert, and on recording. An exclusive artist on the Warner/Erato label, his first recording Anima Sacra has garnered critical accolades and earned him the prestigious Opus Klassik award for Solo Vocal Recording. His sold-out concerts and recitals throughout Europe and the United States have attracted new followers to the art form, and his live performance of Vivaldi's "Vedrò con mio diletto", filmed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2017, has amassed more than four million online views. Television appearances, including the "Concert de Paris" at the Eiffel Tower and "Rebâtir Notre Dame de Paris", both with the Orchestre National de France and Les Victoires de la Musique Classique awards concert accompanied by the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon, have been broadcast to millions worldwide. Last year he was the subject of a major profile in The New Yorker and featured in Polish Vogue. His second album release – entitled Facce d'amore featuring Baroque operatic arias written for romantic male characters – was released in November 2019 and toured throughout Europe with Il Pomo d'Oro. He is also featured on Warner recordings of Agrippina opposite Joyce di Donato and on a disc of selections with L'Arpeggiata with Christina Pluhar.

Jakub Józef Orliński graduated from the Juilliard School in 2017 and immediately began his international career as Orimeno in Cavalli's Erismena in his debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. He followed this with his role debut in the title role of Handel's Rinaldo at Oper Frankfurt in a stunning production by Ted Huffman. While still at Juilliard, he debuted with the Händel-Festspiele in Karlsruhe with music of Handel and Vivaldi; at Carnegie Hall in New York; as well as with the Houston Symphony. He also collaborated with Les Arts Florissants in Vivaldi's Stabat Mater conducted by Paul Agnew; performed with Music of the Baroque in Chicago under Jane Glover; and on tour with the English Concert under Harry Bicket as Eustazio in Rinaldo with performances in London, Seville, Madrid, and New York. Another production of Rinaldo – again in the title role – served as his United Kingdom operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival. He performed Unulfo in Rodelinda in both Frankfurt and Lille (DVD with Emmanuelle Haïm), and has performed concerts with numerous groups throughout Europe and the U.S.

In the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Orliński joins Il Pomo d'Oro for concerts in Hamburg, Essen, Budapest, Trento, and Lyon, featuring selections from his critically acclaimed album Facce d'amore. He later rejoins the ensemble for additional performances, including at Vesailles, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Festival Castell de Peralada, and multiple cities across South America. Other concert engagments include a Baroque program with Il Giardino d'Amore in Barcelona, Bilbao, Castellón, and Madrid; a program entitled Pasticcio with Les Arts Florissants, alongside mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and led by music director William Christie; and a performance in Kraków, Poland, with Capella Cracoviensis featuring music by Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel. He also reunites with pianist Michał Biel for recitals in Moscow, St Petersburg, and Heidelberg, Germany. Previously scheduled engagements included his house and role debut at Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Farnace in a new production of Mitridate, re di Ponto; a repetition of Farnace with Les Musiciens du Louvre in cities including Paris, Barcelona, Valencia, and Moscow; a return to the Händel-Festspiele in Karlsruhe to reprise the title role in Handel's Tolomeo; a tour of Handel's Tamerlano with The English Concert traveling to Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Disney Hall, the Barbican Centre, Théâtre Champs Élysées, Theater an der Wien, and other locations; and an additional recital with Michał Biel in Dijon, France.

Highlights of past seasons include his Carnegie Hall solo concert debut featuring members of New York Baroque Incorporated; his American operatic debut at San Francisco Opera as Armindo in Partenope; his house and role debut at Opernhaus Zürich singing Cyrus in Belshazzar under the baton of Laurence Cummings; his debut in Russia with sold-out concerts during the inaugural season of Zaryadye Hall in Moscow; and debuts with the Warsaw Philharmonic in Handel's Messiah and with the Montreal Bach Festival. He has performed critically-lauded solo recitals at Wigmore Hall, Verbier Festival, and throughout Spain, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Mr. Orliński has triumphed in multiple vocal competitions, winning first place at the Oratorio Society of New York's 2016 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition, second prize in the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition, the first and second annual International Early Music Vocal Competitions in Poland, where he received "Special Mention" and "Special Prize", respectively, first prize at Rudolf Petrák's Singing Competition in Slovakia, third place at the Debut Competition in Igersheim, Germany, Special Mention at the Eighth Annual Mazovian Golden Voices Competition in Poland, and third place at Le Grand Prix de l’Opera in Bucharest, Romania. Mr. Orliński's star rose rapidly following major competition wins on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2016 and the Marcella Sembrich International Vocal Competition in 2015.

While completing his Master's degree in vocal performance studying with Anna Radziejewska at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, he participated in the prestigious young artist program Opera Academy in Teatr Wielki-Opera Narodowa, where he studied with Eytan Pessen and Matthias Rexroth. Mr. Orliński earned his Graduate Diploma at The Juilliard School, studying with Edith Wiens. He was also a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship in the years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017.

In his spare time, Mr. Orliński enjoys breakdancing, in addition to other styles of dance. His achievements in this arena include prizes in many dance competitions: fourth place at the Red Bull BC One Poland Cypher competition, second place on the Stylish Strike – Top Rock Contest and second place at The Style Control competition, among others. He has also been featured in a commercial for the street wear company CROPP, as well as featured as a dancer, model, and acrobat in campaigns for Levi's, Nike, Turbokolor, Samsung, Mercedes-Benz, MAC Cosmetics, Dannon, and Algida.

Jakub Józef Orliński is an exclusive Erato/Warner Classics artist.

Source: jakubjozeforlinski.com

More photos

See also

Jakub Józef Orliński: A Millennial Countertenor's Pop-Star Appeal

George Frideric Handel: Messiah (1754 version) – Jakub Józef Orliński, Sunhae Im, Samuel Boden, José Antonio López, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Martin Haselböck (4K Ultra High Definition)

“Facce d'amore” – New album from Jakub Józef Orliński

George Frideric Handel: Rodelinda – Jeanine De Bique, Tim Mead, Benjamin Hulett, Avery Amereau, Jakub Józef Orliński, Andrea Mastroni – Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (HD 1080p)

Francesco Cavalli: Erismena – Francesca Aspromonte, Carlo Vistoli, Susanna Hurrell, Jakub Józef Orliński, Alexander Miminoshvili, Lea Desandre, Andrea Vincenzo Bonsignore, Stuart Jackson, Tai Oney, Jonathan Abernethy – Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo García Alarcón (HD 1080p)

“Anima Sacra” – Jakub Józef Orliński, Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev – Live at Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, November 16, 2018

Jakub Józef Orliński: "I have already jumped over all of my dreams"

Enemies in Love | George Frideric Handel – Jakub Józef Orliński, Natalia Kawałek, Il Giardino d'Amore, Stefan Plewniak

Jakub Józef Orliński: A star is rising in the world of opera

Read More

George Frideric Handel: Concerti Grossi, Op.3 – Musicians of Camerata-Orchestra of the Friends of Music, George Petrou – Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, 24-26.02.2021 (Premiere: 24.02.2021, 20:30, Live streaming)

In the first decades of the eighteenth century, London was one of the most important European music centres. There was a rich courtly life as well as a great deal of music-making among the bourgeoisie. Just like Amsterdam, London was a hub of music publishers and instrument builders. London's musical life had a strong Italian orientation. It was mainly the Italian composers who were successful there, especially Arcangelo Corelli. Although his oeuvre is limited to instrumental music and only has six opus numbers, his influence was considerable. For example, the London-based Italian Francesco Geminiani made orchestral arrangements of Corelli's violin sonatas opus 5. Geminiani's Concerti grossi opus 1 and Corelli's own Concerti grossi opus 6 were published in many different arrangements. Born in Halle, Germany, composer George Frideric Handel started in his hometown as an organist, and settled more or less permanently in London in 1717. By then he already had a career in Italy, where he was very successful as a young composer and kept company with the likes of Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. Handel saw himself primarily as a composer of vocal music. He had written several operas, which had been performed to much acclaim in Italy and Germany. His first opera, Almira, which has Italian as well as German arias and recitatives, was premiered as early as 1705 in Hamburg. In Italy he learned a great deal about opera from Alessandro Scarlatti, and audiences in that country were wildly enthusiastic about his operas.

In London, Handel built a true opera empire. He was not only the composer and conductor of the performances, but also manager and theatre director. He headed the Royal Academy of Music, an initiative of several wealthy royal opera lovers. The first years, Handel was the big musical attraction of London, and it seemed as if everything he touched turned into gold. If one opera wasn't quite successful, there would soon be a new one that would be. Handel was also good at getting the best Italian sopranos and castrati to work with his company.

The tide turned around 1730. Some of Handel's works flopped, including Lotario from 1729, for which he had high expectations. He also faced heavy competition from another opera company. All of a sudden the English had had enough of the long virtuoso arias Handel wrote, and he ended up in a financial crisis.

His publisher John Walsh advised Handel to start writing instrumental music, given that there was an enormous market for it in London. In 1730, without the composer's knowledge, Walsh published a collection of twelve sonatas that was avidly sold. There was much music-making in London in small circles on all kinds of instruments, and wealthy citizens who could afford instruments and sheet music were also interested in musical novelties. Because Handel had been so popular in London as an opera composer, much money was to be made in sales of his chamber music. After all, London audiences were not so much saturated with the composer himself as with the Italian Opera Seria genre.

With his Concerti grossi opus 3, published in 1734, Handel proved to be a master in this instrumental genre for larger settings too. It seems that in these concerti as well as in the organ concerti opus 4, Handel interpolated a break between two important compositional periods of his life: the Italian operas (until about 1730) and the large English oratorios (starting in 1739). The most salient aspect of these concerti is the way in which Handel used existing vocal works. Using existing material was certainly no admission of weakness on the part of the composer: nearly all his contemporaries did it to some degree. And thus in his Concerti grossi opus 3 Handel incorporated parts of this first oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (concerto No.1), Brockes' Passion (No.2), several of his Chandos Anthems (Nos. 3 and 5) and the opera Ottone (No.6). The fourth concerto, which starts with a stately Frenchstyle overture, is the only one in the series that was written by Handel as one whole, in other words not based on parts of older compositions. It was not entirely new either, because Handel had already used it once as an instrumental interlude in his opera Amadigi. When, starting in 1739, Handel was enjoying success in London with his large English oratorios, he used the concerti grossi again as interludes in oratorio performances. Just like Bach, who wrote his Mass in B minor almost entirely on the basis of music from his secular cantatas, Handel was a composer who dealt with his material in an economical fashion.

In his Concerti grossi opus 3, Handel makes optimal use of the possibilities of the genre. A feature of the concerto grosso is that the orchestra consists of a solo group, the concertino, and a tutti group, the ripieno. Corelli and Geminiani used two violins and a cello as concertino, and Handel did the same in his twelve Concerti grossi opus 6 from 1739. In the opus 3 however he varies the concertino per concerto. The oboe is the main solo instrument, even more so than the violin. A concertino for two oboes and bassoon forms the counterpart to the string concertino of two violins and cello. In the third concerto we also hear an important flute solo, and the sixth concerto ends with a section for solo organ. In this way, these concerts already anticipate Handel's organ concerti, given that these are also works he used as instrumental intermezzi in his oratorios – in which he naturally played the organ part himself.

There are also remarkable combinations of solo instruments, such as oboe with two recorders and oboe with two cellos in the second concerto. With respect to form too, Handel moulded the genre of the concerto grosso. He created a synthesis between the various national styles, with a multicoloured variety of French dances and German fugues in ever-changing orders per concerto. But the ultimate Italian example, in this case Arcangelo Corelli, is never too far-removed from Handel's Concerti grossi.

Source: Marcel Bijlo, March 2005 (challengerecords.com)

The live broadcast is over

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

♪ Concerti Grossi, Op.3 (1710-1718)

i. Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, HWV 312
ii. Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, HWV 313
iii. Concerto Grosso in G major, HWV 314
iv. Concerto Grosso in F major, HWV 315
v. Concerto Grosso in D minor, HWV 316
vi. Concerto Grosso in D major, HWV 317

Musicians of Camerata-Orchestra of the Friends of Music
Conductor: George Petrou

Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, 24-26.02.2021

Premiere: 24.02.2021, 20:30 (Live streaming)

(HD 1080p)

Read More

West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival | Fermata #1 – George Frideric Handel, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ivor Gurney – Lawrence Power, Vilde Frang, John Myerscough, Pavel Kolesnikov, Tim Crawford, Annabelle Meare, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Timothy Crawford, Timothy Ridout (HD 1080p)

I'm delighted to welcome you to the 2020 West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival! We are so excited to share with you what we have been working on over the past month – as I mentioned here before, for obvious reasons we were unable to present the festival this year with live audience. However I feel this has presented us with fascinating challenges and questions... How do we recreate the energy and soul of our special festival on film? How should we programme without the energy of an audience to help and influence a performance? All questions that need answering. I feel privileged to have been joined by some truly magnificent artists on this voyage of discovery – you can discover them all here on the website and our social media channels throughout October.

A Fermata is arguably the most powerful musical device available to a composer, within which the most special, unexpected moments can take place. It can magically suspend time, it can invite wild Improvisation or it can simply invite silence... I hope these films recreate in some small way the soul of our special festival during this hiatus. Enjoy.

We have all felt a felt a collective grand pause over the past six months but this sadly continues for most performing artists all over the world today – it means so much to me that we were able to present these artists in this special way. Thanks again for your loyalty and trust during this creative endeavour. Inevitably, we have incurred more costs than usual presenting these films without the usual ticket revenue. If you enjoy these Festival films and want to support us we would be so grateful for any donations. Not only will it help to fund this year’s festival, but also help to secure future years.

I so look forward to seeing you in 3D (!) next year for our tenth anniversary...

Lawrence Power

Artist Director WWCMF

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) / Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)

♪ Sarabande for Violin and Viola [02:10]*

Vilde Frang, violin

Lawrence Power, viola

Vilde and Lawrence In Conversation at the George and Dragon pub

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)

♪ Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts: La Cupis & La Forqueray (1741) [14:20]

Lawrence Power, violin

John Myerscough, cello

Pavel Kolesnikov, piano

Intermission: Lawrence Power, John Myerscough and Pavel Kolesnikov chat

Recap from the 2019 Festival:

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)

♪ Piano Quintet No.1 (1952) [28:15]

i. Moderato molto espressivo

ii. Presto

iii. Grave

iv. Con passione

Tim Crawford, violin

Annabelle Meare, violin

Lawrence Power, viola

John Myerscough, cello

Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano

✻

String Quintet ‘Souvenirs’

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644, baptised-1704)

♪ Battalia À 10: Presto (1673) [37:53]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

♪ String Quintet No.1 in B flat major, K.174, Allegro Moderato (1773)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

♪ String Quintet No.2 in G major, Op.111, Adagio (1890) [49:08]

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

♪ Fugue for String Quintet in D major, Op.137 (1817)

Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)

♪ 5 Elizabethan Songs, "Sleep" (1912), arranged for solo viola and string quartet by Richard Birchall (2018) [58:10]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

♪ String Quintet No.1 in B flat major, K.174, Allegro (1773) [1:01:05]

Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin

Timothy Crawford, violin

Lawrence Power, viola

Timothy Ridout, viola

John Myerscough, cello

Church of St Lawrence, West Wycombe, UK, October 8, 2020

(HD 1080p)

* Start time of each movement

More photos

Read More

George Frideric Handel: Messiah (1754 version) – Jakub Józef Orliński, Sunhae Im, Samuel Boden, José Antonio López, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Martin Haselböck (4K Ultra High Definition)

Under the baton of the Austrian conductor, organist and composer Martin Haselböck, the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, and the soloists Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor), Sunhae Im (soprano), Samuel Boden (tenor) and José Antonio López (baritone) perform George Frideric Handel's Messiah, HWV 56. Recorded at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, on December 22, 2018.

✻

The oratorio which became a veritable emblem of the genre was premiered on 13th April 1742 at Neale's Music Hall in Dublin by a small orchestra and a 32-strong choir. Messiah was originally written as a modest work that matched the limited performance forces available in Dublin, much different from the splendour of the great London oratorios. Paradoxically, this self‑ limitation has proved to be the work's strength rather than its weakness, since it made possible an unusual condensation of expressive and communicative qualities. Also unconventional is the libretto by Charles Jennens, which consists entirely of direct Biblical quotations (the standard convention was then to use paraphrases of the Bible). These quotations make up the story of Salvation told not directly through Gospel accounts, but first and foremost through the prophetic visions of the Old Testament and commentaries from the Apostolic Letters.

The London premiere took place a year later and (unbelievable as it may seem) met at first with a rather indifferent reception. The press was unfavourable to Handel and criticised the use of Biblical lines in a work meant for the theatre, which was seen as secular entertainment. The title Messiah could not be printed on the posters, since it was argued that it is not fitting to use the name of the Saviour in this manner. For this reason, the piece was announced simply as A New Sacred Oratorio, and it was only in 1749 that the title An Oratorio Called Messiah was used. It was also at that time, in the late 1740s, that the ungrateful Londoners eventually came to appreciate Handel's masterpiece, which with every new performance won more and more acclaim.

Its special status is evident in the fact that it was the first oratorio allowed for use in the church, while previously such compositions had only been presented in the theatres and in concert halls. The first church to stage Messiah was the chapel of the Foundling Hospital in London, where the composer directed this work every year from 1750 onward. The whole considerable revenue from these incredibly successful concerts went to the support of this institution for foundling children.

Source: filharmonia.pl


Part I [00:44]* & Part II [53:53]




Part II (continued) [00:35] & Part III [31:23]




George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Messiah, HWV 56 (1741) (1754 Version)

Libretto: Charles Jennens

Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor
Sunhae Im, soprano
Samuel Boden, tenor
José Antonio López, baritone

Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
Choir director: Bartosz Michałowski

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Martin Haselböck

TV Director: Tomasz Decyk

Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, December 22, 2018

(4K Ultra High Definition)

* Start time of each part

The story behind the triumphant premiere of Handel's Messiah

On April 13, 1742, Handel's ever-popular oratorio received its premiere in Dublin.

The tradition connecting Messiah with Christmas owes nothing to the oratorio's origins. The judicious compression of scriptural references to Jesus Christ was carefully designed by Charles Jennens, a Shakespeare scholar who was educated at Oxford. Jennens never gained a prominent position in society because he refused to take the vow of allegiance to the House of Hanover, and he also objected to the deposed House of Stuart's Catholicism. Jennens was a keen champion of Handel's music since at least 1725, when he ordered a copy of the printed edition of Rodelinda. By the mid-1730s, Jennens was personally acquainted with Handel, and he probably provided the libretto for Israel in Egypt (1738). In July 1741, Jennens wrote to his friend Edward Holdsworth: "Handel says he will do nothing next Winter, but I hope I shall perswade him to set another Scripture Collection I have made for him, and perform it for his own Benefit in Passion Week. I hope he will layout his whole Genius and Skill upon it, that the Composition may excell all his former Compositions, as the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah".

Jennens intended Messiah as a statement of faith in Christ's divinity, in reaction to the increasing popularity of rationalised atheism. It is difficult to discern what Handel thought about religion, but attractive legends such as him weeping over the score of Messiah are apocryphal. He composed it between August 22 and September 14, 1741, but the speed of its composition compares to Handel's normal rapidity and cannot be attributed to either divine or artistic inspiration: within days Handel started work on Samson, adapted from Milton's Samson Agonistes by Newburgh Hamilton, and that oratorio was also complete in its first draft by the end of October. Jennens arrived in London at the end of November 1741, and was surprised to discover that Handel was not there. Jennens wrote "I heard with great pleasure at my arrival in Town, that Handel had set the Oratorio of Messiah; but it was some mortification to me to hear that instead of performing it here he was gone into Ireland with it".

Not much is known about Handel's sudden acceptance of an invitation to perform in Ireland, but it was probably offered by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire. Handel's last two Italian operas, Imeneo and Deidamia, were both failures with fickle London audiences. Perhaps Handel foresaw abandoning the genre in Italian and concentrating upon theatre works in English. During this uncertain transition, the invitation to give a season of concerts at Dublin granted Handel an opportunity to escape the pressure in London and to consider his future.

Dublin had an active theatre and concert life and Handel's visit coincided with the opening of a new concert venue, the Great Music Hall in Fishamble Street, where Handel gave two performances each of L'Allegro, Acis and Galatea and Esther between December 1741 and February 1742. Handel only brought over the soprano Avolio and a few assistants from London, but the Lord Lieutenant's court at Dublin Castle boasted a small orchestra, and numerous professional singers worked at theatres and in the city's two cathedrals. These local musicians formed the core of Handel's musicians and the first series of subscription concerts was an enormous success. He was persuaded to stay longer than planned and produced another concert series which included Alexander's Feast and Hymen, an unstaged serenata adapted from Imeneo. This was Handel's last performance of an Italian opera.

The second series of concerts finished on April 7, 1742, but Handel was hungry to capitalise on his eager audience, so he arranged the first performance of Messiah for April 13. Expectation was high: the rehearsal on April 12 was ticketed and the following morning excited newspapers reported that the oratorio "far surpasses anything of that Nature, which has been performed in this or any other Kingdom". Advertisements requested that Ladies attend "without Hoops", and that "Gentlemen are desired to come without their swords" in order to increase the capacity of the hall. Handel estimated that the venue could hold 600, but an extra 100 people crammed in.

The premiere of Messiah was a triumph. The alto soloist, Susanna Cibber, was an actress who had attracted scandal in the past, but legend has it that her emotional performance of "He was despised" moved Dr Patrick Delany – the husband of one of Handel's most ardent champions – to exclaim "Woman, for this, be all your sins forgiven". The Dublin Journal's review proclaimed that "the best Judges allowed it to be the most finished piece of Musick. Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring crouded Audience. The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestick and moving Words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear".

Source: David Vickers, 2015 (gramophone.co.uk)

More photos


See also

George Frideric Handel: Messiah – Susan Gritton, Cornelia Horak, Bejun Mehta, Richard Croft, Florian Boesch – Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi – Claus Guth, Hannes Rossacher (HD 1080p)

George Frideric Handel: Theodora – Dawn Upshaw, David Daniels, Frode Olsen, Richard Croft, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Michael Hart-Davis – William Christie, Peter Sellars (HD 1080p)

George Frideric Handel: Dixit Dominus – UNT Collegium Singers & Baroque Chamber Orchestra, Richard Sparks (HD 1080p)

Christmas with the Faces of Classical Music

&

Jakub Józef Orliński: A Millennial Countertenor's Pop-Star Appeal

“Facce d'amore” – New album from Jakub Józef Orliński

George Frideric Handel: Rodelinda – Jeanine De Bique, Tim Mead, Benjamin Hulett, Avery Amereau, Jakub Józef Orliński, Andrea Mastroni – Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (HD 1080p)

Francesco Cavalli: Erismena – Francesca Aspromonte, Carlo Vistoli, Susanna Hurrell, Jakub Józef Orliński, Alexander Miminoshvili, Lea Desandre, Andrea Vincenzo Bonsignore, Stuart Jackson, Tai Oney, Jonathan Abernethy – Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo García Alarcón (HD 1080p)

“Anima Sacra” – Jakub Józef Orliński, Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev – Live at Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, November 16, 2018

Jakub Józef Orliński: "I have already jumped over all of my dreams"

Enemies in Love | George Frideric Handel – Jakub Józef Orliński, Natalia Kawałek, Il Giardino d'Amore, Stefan Plewniak

Jakub Józef Orliński: A star is rising in the world of opera

Read More