Meet the People Who Canât Bring You âMessiahâ This Year
Listen as nine performers guide you through the emotional arc of Handelâs classic, from comfort to grief to jubilation.
By Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
Dec. 23, 2020
Every year, Handelâs âMessiahâ is a communal ritual â a glittering parade of recitatives, arias and choruses that binds listeners and performers together in a story of promise, betrayal and redemption.
But not this year. In 2020 the oratorio, if you listen to it at all, will be by necessity a private matter. And many artists for whom it is a beloved (and remunerative) staple remain almost entirely out of work.