Messiah HWV 56 by Händel, pén 15 ápr 2022, -tól (2022/2022), Karmester Richard Cooke, Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

‘He is the master of us all’, Joseph Haydn is alleged to have said on hearing the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus from Handel’s Messiah. The work has never lost its popularity, and the Royal Choral Society’s performances on Good Friday each year have grown into something of a national event. The choir first performed Handel’s Messiah in its opening season in 1872, but it was in 1876 that the first Good Friday performance took place at the Royal Albert Hall, and has been repeated every year since then with the exception of wartime (1940/1) and the recent pandemic (2020). A reduced performance accompanied on the Royal Albert Hall organ took place in May 2021. The Royal Choral Society’s 146th performance of Handel’s Messiah on Good Friday marks the beginning of the choir’s year-long 150th anniversary celebrations. Britain’s favourite choral masterpiece will be conducted by Royal Choral Society Music Director Richard Cooke, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, organist Richard Pearce and a quartet of superb soloists.