“Messiah“ occupies a unique position in Handel’s work. Its strongly universal character and directness of expression, which appeal to men of all creeds, make it the most renowned work in the whole of the composer’s monumental output.

Passion, cantata, opera, instrumental music – that is, all the important musical genres of the time – these formed the basis of Handel’s new art-form, which developed with ever increasing impetus from the end of 1738 onwards and found a particularly complex reali...