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Donald Macleod and his guest Ruth Smith discuss Handel’s arrival in Dublin and how he gathered his forces for his hotly-awaited subscription concerts.

In the winter of 1741, Handel packed his bags and left London for Dublin, where he spent nearly nine months writing and performing in the city. The main work that he premiered there was a new oratorio which proved to be one of the landmarks of his career. Across the week we hear the whole of Handel’s Messiah, uncover the secrets of its origins and dispel the myths that still surround it.

Today Donald and Ruth follow Handel as his packet-boat docks in Dublin, and he sets about organising his concert series. His organ was shipped over with him, and such was demand and curiosity that Handel conceded to hold open rehearsals. We hear about the crowd-pulling singers he ‘formed’, and the other scores in his suitcase that would whet the public’s appetite before Messiah’s great unveiling.

Alexander’s Feast: Revenge, Timotheus cries
William Berger, baritone
Ludus Baroque
Richard Neville-Towle, conductor

Messiah: Part Two (excerpts)
Clare Wilkinson, contralto
Nicholas Mulroy, tenor
Susan Hamilton, soprano
Dunedin Consort and Players
John Butt, conductor

Organ Concerto Op 7 No 1 in B flat major, HWV 306, IV. Bouree
Simon Preston, organ
The English Concert
Trevor Pinnock, conductor

Produced in Cardiff by Amelia Parker