Handel: Messiah – Palace of Versailles in concert at Versailles (Chapelle Royale)December 21, 2024 and December 22, 2024. All the practical information (prices, tickets, seating chart) for this concert can be found on this page. Reserve your tickets now to attend this concert in Versailles!
Mary Light Soprano
Nicolò Balducci Countertenor
Rémy Burnens Tenor
Halidou Name Baryton
*Members of the Royal Opera Academy
Royal Opera Choir
Royal Opera Orchestra
Under the patronage of Aline Foriel-Destezet
Gaetan Jarrydirection
Saturday December 21, 7 p.m.
Sunday December 22, 3 p.m.
Royal Chapel
Duration: 2h50 intermission included
- First part: 1h20
- Intermission
- Second part: 1h10
CD available in the Château de Versailles Spectacles collection
Text 23-24 (same production)
The Messiah is a work whose fame surpasses all others by Handel: this oratorio was given its premiere in Dublin in 1742, and the success was resounding at the premiere: the demand for tickets was such that the gentlemen were asked to “give up carrying their sword” and for the ladies to come “without basket dress”to make room for more listeners, and thus increase revenue “intended for charitable works”. For the grand alto aria « He was despised »Reverend Delany stood up with emotion in the room, exclaiming to the singer: “Woman, for this reason may all your sins be forgiven! ».
Taken back to London, The Messiah quickly became Handel’s flagship work. Performed thirty-six times during his lifetime, it quickly represented what music can be majestic and sublime. Charles Jennens constructed the booklet dedicated to Christ in three parts: the Nativity; Passion and Resurrection; Redemption. The ideal alternation of solo arias and choruses is admirable, and Handel’s lyrical knowledge is everywhere present in the arias: suave or victorious, they are among the composer’s most beautiful. The memorable choruses have remained in the ear for more than two hundred and fifty years… In London, King George II was so struck by the Hallelujah that he stood up in emotion, followed by the entire audience, and all British audiences since then.
The Choir and Orchestra of the Royal Opera conducted by Gaétan Jarry will wonderfully accompany the quartet of first-rate young singers selected for these Christmas concerts.
Presented by Château de Versailles Spectacles (3-1054036)
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