Saturday, December 4 3.00pm
Sunday, December 5 3.00pm
Friday, December 10 7.30pm 
Saturday, December 11 3.00pm
Symphony Hall

John Finney, conductor
Heather Buck, soprano
Sonia Sasseville, contralto
William Hite, tenor
Kevin Deas, bass

CLICK HERE to listen to Music Director Grant Llewellyn discuss this program.

G.F. Handel composed his Messiah in 1741, after his beloved Italian operas declined in popularity with the London public. This “sacred entertainment” proved to be so popular that he began to perform it every year, as a benefit for an orphanage. Since Handel’s death this oratorio has become one of the most beloved and familiar works of the Baroque. This year marks the 151st annual performance by the Handel and Haydn Society, which gave the first American performance in 1818.

Partner link:
Bank of America Celebrity Series

For further information:

http://gfhandel.org/
A wealth of information and links about the composer

http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/handel.html
A good short biography and link to good portrait gallery

http://gfhandel.org/messiah.htm
An excellent discussion of the composition of Messiah

http://www.psg.com/~patf/bach/messiah.html
A paper on Messiah in Handel’s time and since

http://gfhandel.org/messiahlibretto.htm
A Messiah libretto

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