NIKOLINA HRKAĆ, Soprano

FRANKO KLISOVIĆ, Countertenor

MISLAV LUCIĆ, Tenor

MARIN ČARGO, Bass

IVAN ŠĆEPANOVIĆ, Chorusmaster

LAURENCE CUMMINGS, Conductor

Georg Friedrich Händel: Messiah, Oratorio, HWV 56

“I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself seated on His throne, with His company of Angels", this is what Georg Friedrich Händel told his servants, tearfully describing the creation of Hallelujah from the oratorio Messiah, which he had just completed. The piece contains all the components of Händel's mature operatic style, from Italian arias and recitatives, through large choruses, declamatory or minutely elaborated in the best tradition of the German polyphonic tradition, to completely new combinations with which he managed to penetrate into the most complex psychological states of the protagonists. In short, a miraculous world, in which the depth and lightness of Händel's transformation of the biblical text into spirit‑imbued sounds leave us breathless!

 

On the occasion of the 340th anniversary of the composer's birth, this piece will be performed by excellent young vocal soloists and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble. For a quarter of a century, the ensemble has been synonymous with historically informed performance of music from the Baroque and similar periods on original instruments and their replicas.

 

The ensemble boasts numerous premieres, performances and permanent recordings of the works of early masters. Since its foundation, it has successfully collaborated with the world's most important artists specializing in baroque music, including Laurence Cummings, a prominent British harpsichordist, organist and conductor and music director of the renowned Academy of Ancient Music. Clearly pleased with the collaboration with the Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Cummings once said: "I am impressed by the fact that these excellent musicians devote so much time to their passion for baroque music.  This is an ensemble that deserves the greatest possible success.”  The unique concert experience of the original baroque sound, (we trust) faithful to the composer's inexhaustible imagination, will prove it beyond doubt!