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Bach and Handel to take centre stage in Friary
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IT CELEBRATED its landmark 150th anniversary recently and the Franciscan Friary will be the venue for another milestone this week when it stages the historic first performance in Kerry of excerpts from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.
Excerpts from Handel’s Messiah will also be included in the concert, which will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, December 20, at 8pm.
The Christmas Oratorio comprises six shorter works each of which was originally intended to be performed in churches in Leipzig on a different day during the Christmas season in 1734.
As for Handel's Messiah, it was composed in Ireland. “Handel was invited to Dublin, the British empire’s second city at that time, by the Lord Lieutenant to give a series of concerts,” said conductor Aidan O’Carroll. “While in Dublin he set about writing the Messiah in the form of an oratorio – an un-staged opera.”
Legend has it that the work was written in a fever of invention in a mere 19 days. Its premiere was on April 13, 1742, in Neil’s Music Hall, Fishamble Lane, Dublin, close to Christ Church. Its success was immediate. Due to public demand for tickets a large number of extra performances had to be arranged.
Gentlemen were requested in the broadsheets of the time to “leave off their swords” and ladies their hoops so that the maximum number of places might be created.
Soloists Aisling O’Carroll, Sarah-Ellen Murphy, Ryan Morgan and Cormac Lawlor will be joined by the Kerry Chamber Choir and Orchestra under the direction of Aidan O’Carroll.
To encourage younger people to attend, children go free accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available at the Friary office 064-6631334 or from Kerry School of Music on 066-7120077.