Handel and Haydn Society joins a roster of illustrious ensembles that includes the Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra.

Boston- The Handel and Haydn Society of Boston is providing Andante.com with programs of choral and orchestral works ranging from the Baroque through the Romantic periods. These concerts are available for streaming on demand exclusively to Andante subscribers.

Now in its 188th season, the Handel and Haydn Society is the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States and is recognized today as a leader in the presentation of historically informed performances. Mary Deissler, Executive Director of the Handel and Haydn Society, comments: "As an organization committed to quality, the Handel and Haydn Society is thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the premiere web site for classical music. Now music lovers from San Francisco to London and Cape Town to Tokyo can experience what audiences in Boston have been raving about for years."

Andante’s first Handel and Haydn Society concert was made available for streaming on Tuesday, March 18. The program, recorded Oct. 18, 2002 at Boston’s Symphony Hall, features Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor conducted by Music Director Grant Llewellyn. Further information is available at the following link:

http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=20028

Other programs include music by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Bononcini, and feature conductors Grant Llewellyn, Christopher Hogwood, Rinaldo Alessandrini and soprano Barbara Bonney.

Andante’s founder and president, Alain Coblence, comments: “We are thrilled to feature the concerts of the Handel and Haydn Society and of Speculum Musicae in the Andante Musicroom. These two institutions will offer high-level performances to two of the most vibrant constituencies of Andante: the avid followers of Baroque music and of contemporary creation. Perfect complements to the world-class live concerts of the Musicroom — including The Vienna Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Salzburg Festival — they add a wonderful new range of musical experiences for subscribers to enjoy.“

About the Handel and Haydn Society

Under the leadership of Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood, the Society is a leader in historically informed performance, specializing in music for chorus and period orchestra from the Baroque and Classical eras. Each Handel and Haydn concert is distinguished by the use of instruments, techniques and performance styles typical of the period in which the music was composed.

Founded in 1815, the Society has a long tradition of musical excellence. Handel and Haydn gave the American premieres of Handel’s Messiah (1818), which the Society has performed every year since 1854, Haydn’s The Creation (1819), Verdi’s Requiem (1878) and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (1889). Recent seasons have included collaborations with prominent jazz artists, a series of semi-staged operas, weekend-long festivals and world and American premieres. Handel and Haydn received a 2003 Grammy Award for its recording of Sir John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises. The Society’s ambitious Educational Outreach Program brings the joy of classical music to more than 10,000 students each year in over 50 public schools throughout Massachusetts.

About Andante

Since its launch in April 2001, Andante has pursued a mission of advancing the cause of classical music, both online and on record.

The Andante web site provides a single, convenient classical music source for passionate aficionados and curious novices alike. At www.andante.com, visitors will not only find breaking news and reviews of recordings and concerts the world over, but also stimulating commentary and professional/educational reference tools. The site's Musicroom provides access to a peerless library of streamed audio and video programs, including both new and historic performances by some of the world's greatest artists.

The Andante Collection of CD/book products aims to further the world’s recorded classical music heritage by releasing an extensive line of great performances, including unique anthologies of vintage recordings, as well as sets of previously unreleased, often legendary items from the most coveted archives. Each sumptuously packaged CD/book set comes with extensive notes and images, along with state-of-the-art sound quality, whether from re-mastered classics or contemporary recordings by today's top artists.

Among Andante's partners for the CD collection and the online Musicroom are the Vienna Philharmonic, the Salzburg Festival, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

The New Yorker calls the Andante Collection “A feast for connoisseurs, and a lesson in style to performers growing up in an anodyne age.” Gramophone editor James Jolly adds, “Mining the archives, Andante's releases get ever more lavish and appealing!” The Andante Collection is available at select online and traditional retailers and also at the Andante.com online Boutique.

Contact: Gregg Sorensen 617-262-1815

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