Heinz Ferlesch © Michaela Grabner
Barucco / Wiener Singakademie / Ferlesch
Händel: Messiah
Saturday
10
December
2022
19:00 – ca. 22:00
Großer Saal
Presented by
Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft
A great moment for mankind
As the Dublin News-Letter reported after the premiere of Handel's Messiah on April 13, 1742, this oratorio »far surpasses anything that has ever been performed in this or any other kingdom. Words cannot express the emotion of the audience«. And yet, some 200 years later, Stefan Zweig attempted to do just that when, in one of his 14 historical miniatures from the »Sternstunden der Menschheit«, he plunged into precisely this emotion of the listener and into the composer's creative frenzy. The rapturous tone of this short narrative about the creation of the »Messiah« is much more an expression of the tremendous impact of Handel's music than it gives a realistic idea of its creative process and inspiration. With each new performance of the work, meanwhile, what Zweig prefaced his literary romance with in the title, «George Frideric Handel's Resurrection«, comes to pass.
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Program sheet