Handel Messia

This is regarded as the archetype of the oratorio par excellence, as its creator’s most famous work – the «Messiah» by George Frideric Handel. The «Messiah» owes its fame less to the (undeniably high) quality of the composition than to its particular history of reception. This history was enriched by a veritable treasure when the Handel House Foundation in Halle was able to acquire a previously unknown score of the Italian-language version, which was first performed in Florence in 1768 and was long thought to have been lost. At the Innsbruck Festival, the wonderful work «Il Messia» will be performed under the direction of Alessandro De Marchi and with an outstanding soloist cast.

This is regarded as the archetype of the oratorio par excellence, as its creator’s most famous work – the «Messiah» by George Frideric Handel. The «Messiah» owes its fame less to the (undeniably high) quality of the composition than to its particular history of reception. This history was enriched by a veritable treasure when the Handel House Foundation in Halle was able to acquire a previously unknown score of the Italian-language version, which was first performed in Florence in 1768 and was long thought to have been lost. At the Innsbruck Festival, the wonderful work «Il Messia» will be performed under the direction of Alessandro De Marchi and with an outstanding soloist cast.

With her almost supernaturally clear and agile soprano, Emma Kirkby has enchanted audiences ever since she first appeared on the Early Music scene in the 1970s. And as the art of historically informed performance has become more and more widely appreciated, so has her style of singing, to the extent that she in 2007 was included in a listing of ‘the 20 greatest sopranos ever’ made by the BBC Music Magazine. Throughout her career, Emma Kirkby has made a large number of recordings of a wide range of music. Released on the occasion of her 60th birthday, the present collection celebrates her collaboration with BIS, which has resulted in ten discs to date.