Concert Details
Handel: Messiah
8th December 2007
7:30pm, Gloucester Cathedral
- Soprano: Natalie Clifton-Griffith
- Countertenor: James Laing
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- Conductor: Robert Houssart
Comparing Messiah with Handel's other oratorios, the most obvious differences are its paucity of ensembles - only one short duet (itself often omitted in modern performances) and no trios - and its great number of accompanied recitatives. In his operas and oratorios, the conversations were generally sung unaccompanied except for improvised chords and figuration from the composer himself at the harpsichord, but there is no action or conversation in Messiah and many of the recits are accompanied by the string orchestra. The inventiveness shown in these string parts is one of the splendid innovations of this piece, graphic descriptions of 'gross darkness', 'a multitude of the heavenly host', and 'laugh him to scorn'.
