Title: Messiah
Artist: Handel / Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Label: Naxos
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 730099425827
Genre: Xmas Classical Vocal, Classical Composers

Messiah was written with Handel's usual speed in 1741 for performance in Dublin, some of it rehearsed briefly by inadequate singers in Chester, as he made his way to Holyhead to embark for the voyage. The first performance was given at the New Music Hall in Fish-amble Street, Dublin, on 13th April, 1742, in aid of charity. The first London performance took place in Lent 1743 at Covent Garden, but the work failed to please, in part because of reservations that some held about the suitability of such a sacred subject for a theatre. Messiah only achieved it's lasting success after performances in 1750 in aid of the Foundling Hospital, established ten years earlier by Captain Thomas Coram. At his death in 1759 Handel left a fair copy of the score and all parts to the Hospital, an institution that continued to benefit from annual performances of the work. The Scholars Baroque Ensemble: The scholars Baroque Ensemble was founded in 1987 by David van Asch with the idea of complementing the "a-capella" work of the vocal ensemble The Scholars. This group, consisting also of the soprano Kym Amps, counter tenor Angus Davidson and tenor Robin Doveton, has had worldwide success during the last twenty years. The members of THE Scholars Baroque Ensemble are all specialists in the field of Baroque music and play original instruments (or copies) using contemporary techniques, singers and players work together without a director to produce their own versions of great masterpieces such as the St. John Passion by Bach, the 1610 Vespers by Monteverdi, Dido and Aeneas and The Fairy Queen by Purcell, the Messiah and Acis and Galatea by Handel, all of which are being released by Naxos. Concert performances by the ensemble have been highly praised by critics and audiences alike.

Tracks:
1.1 The Messiah (Highlights): Sinfonia
1.2 The Messiah (Highlights): Comfort Ye My People... Every Valley Shall Be Exalted
1.3 The Messiah (Highlights): And the Glory of the Lord
1.4 The Messiah (Highlights): Behold a Virgin Shall Conceive... O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion
1.5 The Messiah (Highlights): For Unto Us a Child Is Born
1.6 The Messiah (Highlights): Pifa
1.7 The Messiah (Highlights): Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion
1.8 The Messiah (Highlights): Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be Open'd... He Shall Feed His Floc
1.9 The Messiah (Highlights): He Was Despised and Rejected of Men
1.10 The Messiah (Highlights): How Beautiful Are the Feet of Him
1.11 The Messiah (Highlights): Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together ?
1.12 The Messiah (Highlights): Hallelujah!
1.13 The Messiah (Highlights): I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
1.14 The Messiah (Highlights): Behold, I Tell You a Mystery... the Trumpet Shall Sound
1.15 The Messiah (Highlights): Worthy Is the Lamb... Amen

Audio Sample:
All soundclips are provided by Tidal and are for illustrative purposes only. For some releases, the tracks listed may not accurately represent the tracks on the physical release.