Programme Notes | Messiah - 18 & 19 December 2021

Programme Notes

MESSIAH SAT 18 DECEMBER 2021 • 19.30 SUN 19 DECEMBER 2021 • 13.30

PROGRAMME conductor Jonathan Cohen soprano Emöke Baráth counter tenor Andreas Scholl tenor Andrew Staples baritone Matthew Rose choir Netherlands Radio Choir Georg Friedrich Handel 1685-1759 Messiah, an Oratorio, HWV 56 [1741-42] Libretto by Charles Jennens, based on texts from the Bible • Part 1 – Isaiah’s Prophecy of Salvation • Part 2 – Christ’s Passion • Part 3 – The Promise of Eternal Life Interval halfway Part 2 Concert ends at about 22.30/16.30

Most recent performance by our orchestra: Dec 1971: soprano Sheila Armstrong, alto Anna Reynolds, tenor Frank Patterson, bass Henk Smit, choir Philharmonisch Koor Toonkunst, conductor Jean Fournet

Cover: The Adoration of the Shepherds – painting by Matthias Stomer

George Frideric Handel portrait by John Theodore Heins (ca. 1740)

Handel’s popularity in London was on the wane.

The public was getting bored with his Italian operas, theatres were losing income, and his competitors were actively working against him. The composer struggled to withstand these setbacks. Would he abandon his life in London, or be able to conjure another rabbit from a hat?

Musical life story 1741 is a special year in the history of music. It was the year in which, after a stay of thirty years in London, George Frederick Handel unexpectedly announced his final concert. A period during which he had composed and staged forty operas and over fifteen oratorios and other large-scale choral works. He had composed his popular Concerti Grossi, Opus 6, and performed them to great acclaim during the intervals of his operas and oratorios.

Now the scores were available for purchase at music shops and could be performed in the salons of many great London houses. But Handel would nevertheless leave the city.

Perhaps to spend time in a spa in his native Germany before returning. Or to leave England for good. Handel was tired of England. And his theatre public had grown tired of listening to singing in Italian. It was a weird situation that had started to perplex Handel: a German composer writing operas with an Italian libretto for a British public. Furthermore, opera

was the preserve of the rich nobility, recounting tales from far-away lands, from times long gone, in a strange language. Opera was beginning to alienate the public. The general public wanted stories they knew, in their own language. Under this public pressure, Handel turned away from Italian opera and focused entirely on the oratorio, a form of telling stories from the Bible and Greek mythology, told in the English language. It was a decision that Handel took in this special year of 1741.

However, there was much more at issue than objections to his music. People were also attacking him personally. An invisible, but powerful, clique of wealthy aristocrats had determined on bringing an end to Handel’s successes, and ensuring his demise.

In a year in which London became gripped by one of the coldest winters of the century, they quietly cheered the fact that all the London theatres and concert halls were forced to remain shut. It was so cold, and the

ice so thick over the Thames, that people took to the ice en masse, even roasting oxen on spits. And whilst Handel worked through the winter to prepare works for the new season, his competitors were even recruiting gangs to rip posters from walls, to ensure that his performances would be sparsely attended. His enemies may have thought that Handel had given up the battle, and that he would slip away quietly in defeat. And, yes, Handel did in fact leave. But concealed within his luggage was a work that he had composed in just three weeks: the oratorio Messiah, the life of Christ set to music.

Premiere in Dublin In November 1741 Handel arrived in the Irish capital Dublin. And in April 1742 it was here in Dublin where Messiah was first performed. Not in a church, but in a theatre, just as Handel wished; in Mr. Neale’s Great Musick Hall in Fishamble Street. The appetite of the public was greater than could be accommodated by the theatre. To create more space for a larger public, newspapers requested ladies to dispense with the hoops in their skirts and the gentlemen not to belt their swords. This meant that this spectacular event could be attended by 700 people – one hundred more than would otherwise have been possible. The work’s success was difficult to put into words. The Dublin Journal: ‘The most finished piece of Musick. 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.’ So great was the enthusiasm, that the performance had to be repeated.

The profit from ticket sales was distributed to three charities.

Within just one year following this Dublin triumph, Handel would

once again conquer London, this time with his Messiah. The first London performance attracted such public interest that two additional performances had to be scheduled.

It wasn’t until 1772 that the work would be performed in Germany, firstly in Hamburg, and later in Austria’s capital Vienna, in an arrangement by Mozart. It was this oratorio that would be performed

in a concert of remembrance in Westminster Abbey, where the composer lay buried, twenty-five years after his death. Such occasion boasted a huge gathering of 60 sopranos, 48 male altos, 83 tenors, 84 basses, 6 flutes, 26 oboes, 26 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 12 horns, 12 trumpets, 6 trombones, 3 timpani, 48 first violins, 47 second violins, 26 violas, 21 cellos, 15 double basses, and large organ. Another London performance mobilised as many as 3,000 singers.

Birth, life, and death Handel’s Messiah is in three Parts.

They describe in sequence the annunciation of the birth of Jesus Christ, his life and suffering, and finally salvation. It is notable that

the central figure of Christ himself does not appear as a character in the work, unlike, for example, his characterisation in the St John’s or St Matthew’s Passions of Bach. It is always third parties who provide commentary about his life - soloists in arias and recitatives, and the people in numerous immortal choruses, such as the ‘Hallelujah’. The tenor solo plays a main role as a kind of narrator, as is usual in oratorios.

The role of the solo soprano develops throughout the work, with a lyrical, gentle and adoring part, as exemplified in the first part: ‘He shall feed his flock’.

Part I includes some Biblical prophesies announcing the arrival of the redeemer, such as in the two solos for bass voice. ‘For behold, darkness shall cover’ is an accompanied recitative, which begins with a description of a threatening darkness.

But the music takes a journey to hope, light, and glory, just like the words of the prophet Isaiah. The same change from dark to light can be heard in the very next aria: ‘The people that walked in darkness’. Its opening presents a barren world, offering little comfort. But the initially low bass part slowly goes up the octaves as Isaiah proclaims that light shines on the people in the shadow of death. There is a wonderful interplay between the bass voice and trumpet in Part III, a powerful, yet dance-like message that ‘The trumpet shall sound’. Both text and music radiate sublime reassurance about the fate awaiting man on death and the Last Judgment when, at the summons of the heavenly trumpet, mankind will be lifted up and not lost.

Clemens Romijn

Jonathan Cohen, Conductor Born: Manchester, England Current position: Music director Les Violons du Roy, founder and artistic director Arcangelo, artistic director Tetbury Festival, artistic partner Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Education: Clare College, Cambridge Guest conductor: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Mozarteum Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Concert Halls: Wigmore Hall London, Royal Albert Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin, Kölner Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall New York

Photo: Marco Borggreve

Emöke Baráth, Soprano Born: Kerepestarcsa, Hungary Education: Franz Liszt Academy Budapest; Luigi Cherubini Conservatory Florence; masterclasses with Barbara Bonney, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sylvia Sass, Laszlo Polgar, Nancy Argenta, Deborah York, Masaaki Suzuki Awards: Third Prize 44th Antonín Dvořák International Competition, Czech Republic (2009); First Prize and People’s Choice Award Second International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera Innsbruck (2011); Grand Prix of Verbier Festival Academy, Switzerland (2011) Operas: Elena and Xerse (Cavalli), L’Orfeo and L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi), Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte (Mozart), Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2021 Photo: Zsófi Raffay

Andreas Scholl, Counter Tenor Geboren: Eltville am Rhein, Germany Education: Kiedricher Chorbuben; Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Richard Levitt and René Jacobs Awards: BBC Music Magazine Award (2012), Edison Award (2002); Prix de l’Union de la Presse Musicale Belge (1999), Baroque Vocal Prize Grammophone Award (1996) Specialisation: Early music, Baroque Opera Opera debut: 1998, as Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda, Glyndebourne Soloist with: Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2008 Photo: Salar Baygan

Andrew Staples, Tenor Born: London, United Kingdom Education: Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral; King’s College Cambridge; Benjamin Britten International Opera School at the Royal College of Music London Soloist with: Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Opera debut: 2007, as Jacquino in Beethoven’s Fidelio, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Operas: Capriccio, Salome (Strauss), The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, La finta giardiniera, Idomeneo (Mozart), Wozzeck (Berg) Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2011

Photo: Andrew Staples

Seaford, United Kingdom Seaford College; Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia; Young Artist Programme Royal Opera House, Covent Garden John Christie Prize Glyndebourne (2006); Critics Circle Award Exceptional Young Talent (2012) Opera Debut: 2006, as Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Lyon, Metropolitan Opera New York, Houston Grand Opera with pianists Gary Matthewman and Malcolm Martineau 2018 Photo: Lena Kern

Photo: Simon van Boxtel

Netherlands Radio Choir Founded: 1945

Repertoire: Large choral-symphonic repertoire, opera, nineteenth and twentieth century works for choir

First chief conductor: Kenneth Montgomery Current principal conductor: Benjamin Goodson Principal guest conductor: Peter Dijkstra Permanent guest conductor: Michael Gläser Members: over sixty professional singers

Commission works by: Peter-Jan Wagemans, Bart Visman, Giel Vleggaar, Diderik Wagenaar, James MacMillan, Hans Werner Henze, John Adams, Mathilde Wantenaar Affiliated with: Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, NTR ZaterdagMatinee

MUSICIANS Chef-dirigent Lahav Shani

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New Year Concert: Musical Meets Opera conductor Dirk Brossé vocal soloists Katrien Baerts, Alice Fearn, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Bror Magnus Tødenes Highlights from the musical and opera repertoire

conductor Han-Na Chang cello Truls Mørk Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante Prokofiev Symphony No. 5

conductor Lahav Shani piano Martha Argerich Pijper Symphony No. 2 Ravel Piano Concerto in G major Stravinsky Suite from The Firebird

conductor and piano Lahav Shani Mendelssohn Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”

Honorary Conductor Valery Gergiev Yannick Nézet-Séguin First violin Igor Gruppman, concertmaster Marieke Blankestijn, concertmaster Quirine Scheffers Hed Yaron Meyerson Saskia Otto Arno Bons Mireille van der Wart Shelly Greenberg Cor van der Linden Rachel Browne Maria Dingjan Marie-José Schrijner Noëmi Bodden Petra Visser Sophia Torrenga Hadewijch Hofland Annerien Stuker Alexandra van Beveren Koen Stapert Second violin Charlotte Potgieter Cecilia Ziano Frank de Groot Laurens van Vliet Tomoko Hara Elina Staphorsius Jun Yi Dou Bob Bruyn Letizia Sciarone Eefje Habraken Maija Reinikainen Sumire Hara Wim Ruitenbeek Babette van den Berg Melanie Broers

Viola Anne Huser Roman Spitzer Maartje van Rheeden Galahad Samson Kerstin Bonk Lex Prummel Janine Baller Francis Saunders Veronika Lénártová Rosalinde Kluck León van den Berg

Clarinet Julien Hervé Bruno Bonansea Jan Jansen

Cello Emanuele Silvestri Joanna Pachucka Daniel Petrovitsch Mario Rio Gé van Leeuwen Eelco Beinema Carla Schrijner Pepijn Meeuws Yi-Ting Fang

Bassoon/contra bassoon Hans Wisse

Double bass Matthew Midgley Ying Lai Green Jonathan Focquaert Robert Franenberg Harke Wiersma Arjen Leendertz Ricardo Neto Flute Juliette Hurel Joséphine Olech Désirée Woudenberg Oboe Remco de Vries Karel Schoofs Hans Cartigny Anja van der Maten Oboe/cor anglais Ron Tijhuis

Clarinet/ bass clarinet Romke-Jan Wijmenga Bassoon Pieter Nuytten Marianne Prommel

Horn David Fernández Alonso Wendy Leliveld Richard Speetjens Laurens Otto Pierre Buizer Trumpet Giuliano Sommerhalder Alex Elia Simon Wierenga Jos Verspagen Trombone Pierre Volders Alexander Verbeek Remko de Jager Tuba Hendrik-Jan Renes Timpani/ percussion Randy Max Danny van de Wal Ronald Ent Martijn Boom Adriaan Feyaerts Harp Charlotte Sprenkels