Handel 2009

Messiah Memory Bank 2005

Musical Matters

‘I’m not saying any way is right or any way is wrong. I think we need both; I love to hear Messiah done in the traditional way and in the baroque way. I think there’s room for both.’
Dame Janet Baker, Singer (mezzo-soprano)

‘Traditional, Malcolm Sargent way, I don’t like the frills and the fancies, and all the bits and bobs people tend to put in these days.’
Christine Mortimer, Member of Wimbledon Choral Society 

‘The first performance that I really loved was Christopher Hogwood’s recording from over thirty years ago with the academy of ancient music and the choir of Christchurch, Oxford. It’s got just a wonderful freshness about it, a sort of voyage of discovery because those were the early days of original instrument playing in this country, and I think every one was just very excited.’
Alistair Ross, Harpsichord player and organist

‘I don’t like the early music recordings. I find them very precise and a bit uninspiring.’
David Temple, Conductor

‘I prefer the modern one, but you have to appreciate the original to appreciate the modern because there’s a lot of aspects, especially to do with orchestration and arrangement that are kept within the modernised Soulful Celebration…It’s very well put together, very well thought out. It’s an excellent piece of work’
Shaun Stewart, Music student

‘One quiet evening at home I retire to a distant room, prepare the score, clear my throat, switch on the tape-recorder, open my mouth and wait for “And the glory, the glory of the Lord” to come out of it. But – it doesn’t. The music goes terribly fast. So many notes on the page. My top E’s sound so lonely and squeaky. On to the next chorus: “And He shall pu-u-ri-fy”. Purification indeed! This is worse still. Up to top G, me, an alto? At that speed? But there’s no time even to beat the rhythm! My eyes can hardly keep up with the score. Did Handel intend mere mortals ever to breathe?’
Katherine Holmstrom 

Handel House Museum at 25 Brook Street will be at the heart of the Handel celebrations this year. This landmark address is where Handel lived for thirty-six years of his life and where he died on 14 April 1759.