Clara Rottsolk soprano
Monica Reinagel alto
Aaron Sheehan tenor
Sumner Thompson bass
Melinda O’Neal conductor
Handel Choir and Handel Period Instrument Orchestra

Buy tickets to the Messiah here.

Handel Choir holds the distinction of having performed Messiah annually since 1935, the longest consecutive run in Baltimore. Ever fresh, ever new, our performance offers this cherished work with period instruments and distinguished guest soloists in the architecturally stunning, acoustically beguiling Church of the Immaculate Conception. Join us to enjoy this annual holiday tradition!

Handel rarely performed Messiah in the same way, from the première in Dublin in 1742 to annual performances at London’s Foundling Hospital to performances in Covent Garden Royal Opera House and the three performances he led in 1759, the year of his death. He varied the content to suit the occasion, sometimes re-writing arias or recitatives and assigning them to different voices to best showcase the singers he had available at the time. All the choral parts were sung by males, with boy choristers singing the soprano parts and male altos or counter tenors singing the alto parts, for a total of about 30 choristers. The vocal soloists were usually international stars from the opera house. In 1788 Mozart arranged Messiah for performances in Vienna, adding new woodwind instruments, translating the work into German, modernizing phrasings, adding dynamic markings and enlarging the performing forces. Messiah fell into obscurity in England after Handel’s death but was rediscovered in the 1820’s and performed with expanded, “romantic” musical forces and performance conventions. In 1834 there were 644 performers in Westminster Abby for the Royal Music Festival, and there were 3,000 performers and 10,000 audience members for later renditions in the gigantic Crystal Palace.

The Handel Choir’s performance cannot be called authentic just by virtue of returning to smaller performing forces and using period instruments, for such a thing as authenticity is not attainable. But we would like to think Handel might at least give a little smile at our efforts to enjoy this work in perhaps a closer resemblance to its original renderings, all the while sharing in the “infinite self-renewal” of this marvelous work.

The next concert in the Handel Choir of Baltimore’s 2008-2009 season is Eternal Rest: Requiem by Duruflé. Get concert information here.

Spring Concert

Sunday 17, May at 4:00
First English Lutheran Church

Find directions to this venue here.
Watch for more information

An ecumenical feast of musical delights! The Handel Children’s Choir, joined by the Handel Choir, will perform music for the season.

Haydn’s Paukenmesse, Hob. XXII: 9 in C Major

Emily Noel soprano
Jenna Lebherz alto
Gran Wilson tenor
Sumner Thompson bass
Melinda O’Neal conductor
Handel Choir and Handel Period Instrument Orchestra
Special guest: Handel Children’s Choir

Buy tickets to this concert here.

Resplendent with innovations, Haydn’s mature six symphonic-style Masses are the classical period’s crowning achievement in the Mass genre. Paukenmesse (Kettledrum Mass), also known as Missa in tempore belli (Mass in Time of War), is among the most popular of the six, with increased and freshened use of counterpoint, a unified sense of motivic construction and clear overall structural cohesion. Hear the beautiful duet for bass voice and cello solo in “Qui tollis,” the dramatic setting of Agnus Dei with solo timpani, Handelian “amens,” and even an operatic ensemble finale!

Suite for Organ, Op. 5
Quatre motets sur des Thèmes Grégoriens, Op. 10
Requiem, Op. 9

Jonathan Moyer organ
Catherine MiEun Choi mezzo-soprano
Robert Cantrell baritone
Melinda O’Neal conductor
Chandos Singers and Handel Choir

Buy tickets to this concert here.

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986), organist at St. Étienne-du-Mont in Paris and professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatory, wrote his Requiem in 1947 in memory of his father. Originally set for orchestra, he recast this transcendent work a year later for organ. His melodic material is based either literally or in the character of traditional Gregorian chant, while his astonishing harmonic language is lush with post-romantic richness. Duruflé’s Suite for Organ (1932) and his only set of a cappella motets (1960) also take their inspiration from Gregorian chant.

The next concert in the Handel Choir of Baltimore’s 2008-2009 season is A Symphony with Voices: Haydn’s Paukenmesse.  Get concert information here.

Buy tickets here

Jay White countertenor
Robert Petillo tenor
Phillip Collister bass
Melinda O’Neal conductor
Chandos Singers, Handel Choir of Baltimore and Handel Period Instrument Orchestra

We continue a new Handel Choir tradition of pairing two hallmark baroque composers, Handel and Bach. Handel’s The King shall rejoice, written to celebrate the coronation of King George II in Westminster Abbey (1727), is set for festive baroque orchestra and voices. Bach’s Cantata BWV 12, an introspective work, depicts the transformation from sorrow and fear to the joy of “blossoms of blessing” through faith. Resplendent in its orchestration, Cantata BWV 34 implores God to bestow peace upon Israel. The opening chorus’s lively figuration inspired by the licking flames of the Holy Spirit (“Feuer”) is contrasted with the trumpet’s long notes illustrating eternity (“ewiges”). This is Bach at his most mature, insightful and robust. And a special bonus — the Handel Period Instrument Orchestra performing one of Handel’s quintessential concerti grossi.

Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 3 pm
Kraushaar Auditorium, Goucher College
1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson 21286
2 pm pre-concert lecture by Jonathan Palevsky, WBJC Radio

Buy tickets here

Mozart Symphony No. 31 Paris, KV 297 in D Major
Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs
Fauré Requiem, Op. 48

Rachel Inselman soprano
William Andrew Stuckey baritone
Melinda O’Neal conductor
Markand Thakar conductor
Handel Choir of Baltimore and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra

Handel Choir of Baltimore and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra will open our seasons with a special combined concert followed by a celebratory reception for musicians and the entire audience. Handel Choir begins its 74th year and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra begins its 26th year — that’s 100 years between the two ensembles!

Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Markand Thakar, is the premier chamber orchestra in the Mid-Atlantic region. Handel Choir and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra collaborated in February 2008 to present the world première of the critically acclaimed Requiem for the Fallen by Jonathan Leshnoff, which Handel Choir of Baltimore commissioned.