Handel Messiah - Sandrine Piau & Choeur de Chambre de Namur
George Frideric Handel, Messiah
TRANSCENDING TUNES
When Italian opera went out of fashion in London in the 1730s, Handel switched to composing Englishlanguage oratorios. Handel had already gained some experience in this genre in Rome, where opera was under papal ban. Messiah, written in 1741, is his eighth oratorio and uses texts from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter.
In three parts, he extols the theological significance of Christ, the biblical Messiah: first, Old Testament prophets announce his coming; in the second part, Christ’s death on the cross, resurrection and ascension are dealt with (culminating in the all-toofamiliar Hallelujah); and in the final part, his redemptive role for humanity is explained in greater detail.
Handel’s Messiah is the Anglo-Saxon counterpart to Bach’s St Matthew Passion and is frequently performed around both Christmas and Easter. Originally written for a relatively small instrumentation, a tradition of performing this oratorio with increasingly larger orchestras and choirs emerged during the 18th and 19th centuries. For this performance, the Belgian National Orchestra is working together with the Choeur de Chambre de Namur and British conductor Ian Page, who is familiar with the Anglo-Saxon performance tradition (from mammoth concerts at the Royal Albert Hall to performances with period instruments).
Ian Page, conductor
Sandrine Piau, soprano
Benjamin Williamson, countertenor
Patrick Grahl, tenor
Johannes Weisser, baritone
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, choir
© Photo by Sandrine Expilly
Ian Page
“The series of Mozart operas being recorded under the direction of Classical Opera’s director Ian Page has already established him as one of the most stylishly authoritative interpreters of the
Sandrine Piau
Reconnue dans le monde de la musique baroque, la soprano française Sandrine Piau se produit régulièrement avec des chefs d'orchestre célèbres tels que William Christie, P
Benjamin Williamson
Winner of the 2013 Nei Stëmmen International Singing Competition in Luxembourg, recent roles include Anführer in Toshio Hosokawa’s Erdbeben Träume with Opera Stuttgart, Seraphim 3 in John Adams’ Th
Johannes Weisser
Norwegian baritone Johannes Weisser has established himself as one of the most exciting European singers of his generation.
Chœur de Chambre de Namur
Depuis sa création en 1987, le Chœur de Chambre de Namur s’attache à la défense du patrimoine musical de sa région d’origine (Lassus, Arcadelt, Rogier, Du Mont, Gossec, Grétry…) tout en abordant de
