Handel's Messiah the advent calendar

#20 Handel's Messiah

Mrs. Delaney, the good friend: Another woman who played an important role in Handel’s life was Mary Delaney or Mary Pendarves. The reason for calling attention to her in

#19 Handel's Messiah

Recipe for ragout with poor Irish children: The mighty dean and writer, Jonathan Swift was close to putting a stop to the premiere of Messiah. Under no circumstances woul

#18 Handel's Messiah

Troubles ahead for mr Handel! It seemed that Handel was holding back on announcing his plans to present his big, new oratorio Messiah while in Dublin. This is no doubt be

#17 Handel's Messiah

Susannah Cibber arrives in Dublin, and her performance is a big disaster - but then the viceroy asserts himself! When exactly Handel and Cibber first meet in Dublin, and

#16 Handel's Messiah 16

Today’s episode of the advent calendar is not for those faint of heart as it contains both love-making scenes, a kidnapping and hostage-taking. On 5 December 1738 Theophi

#15 Handel's Messiah

She was the star of the first performance of Messiah in Dublin. In the years leading up to this Susannah Cibber had had a tough time. It was nothing short of a sensation

#14 Handel's Messiah

‘The tenor voice that gives me the greatest satisfaction’ were Handel’s words about John Church, who later appeared in Messiah. However, even though John, who was such a

#13 Handel's Messiah

Handel was soon so busy in Dublin that he could not keep up. Smock Alley Theatre further down Fishamble Street had to cancel performances because Handel monopolised the b

#12 Handel's Messiah

It has been reported that Handel hardly ate anything during the 24 days it took him to write the music for Messiah. How the food which the waiter brought the busy compose

#11 Handel's Messiah

The Irish State Musick was the permanent ensemble at the court at Dublin Castle. They were primarily paid in beer and had to take on extra work as waiters in order to mak

#10 Handel's Messiah

On 14 December Handel started selling tickets for his concerts from his own living room. Dublin was the perfect size for successful benefit concerts. It was big enough an

#9 Handel's Messiah

The Charitable Musical Society was quite a unique musical society. Even though there were many similar societies in Dublin in the 1740s this society stood out because of

#8 Handel's Messiah

Whereas it is a well-known part of musical history that Messiah premiered in Dublin’s new leading music hall in Fishamble Street as a benefit concert arranged by a.o. the

#7 Handel's Messiah

Handel arrives in Ireland on 18 November and is welcomed with open arms. Where life seemed light, cheerful, elegant and fashionable when the aristocracy were enjoying the

#6 Handel's Messiah

Due to bad weather conditions Handel’s trip from Parkgate to Dublin by boat is delayed for several days. He spends his time gathering a choir to practise Messiah. The cho

#5 Handel's Messiah

When Handel met Matthew Dubourg, who would later become Master of the Music at the court in Dublin, he was a little boy playing the violin standing on a stool. When the a

#4 Handel's Messiah

Handel composed the music for Messiah in 24 days, and the librettist, Charles Jennens, was furious that Handel had not spent more time on the music seeing as it was such

#3 Handel's Messiah

No Messiah without Charles Jennens! Because creating this holy oratorio was his idea. It was he who wrote the libretto based on the Bible. However, Charles Jennens had no

#2 Handel's Messiah

In the second episode we will hear about Handel nearly being ruined by pretentious opera divas and opera productions that were overly expensive. We will also hear how the

1 Fishamble Street: Setting the Scene for Handel's Messiah

In the first episode we are going down Fishamble Street, one of the oldest streets in Dublin. It was in the exclusive Musick Hall in this street that Handel’s Messiah was