Hallelujah - a day to celebrate Handel

THE FIRST performance of Handel's Messiahin 1742 will be marked by a day of events, called In Handel's Day, on April 13th.

Talks, guided walks, film and song will be used to celebrate the history and music of the period when the choral masterpiece was first performed in a music hall on Dublin’s Fishamble Street.

“The idea was to have one big day of celebration that would go from early morning until evening,” said Lorraine Maye of Temple Bar Cultural Trust at the launch of the programme.

The highlight of the day will be the annual lunchtime performance of the Messiah on Fishamble Street by Our Lady’s Choral Society conducted by Proinnsias Ó Duinn with tenor Ross Scanlon.

A new event will focus on traditional Irish music of the 18th century to celebrate the Neal family, who ran the music hall where Messiah premiered.

“They were also great publishers of Irish traditional music, they did the first publication in 1742. As it was in Handel’s day, an event will be held in St Audoen’s Church,” Ms Maye said.

Altan fiddler Paul O’Shaughnessy and harpist Siobhán Armstrong will perform as part of a talk on traditional music.

Members of the public can also immerse themselves in Handel’s Dublin through a walking tour by music historian Prof Barra Boydell and local historian Pat Liddy. Film fans can get a glimpse of 18th century Ireland with an open-air screening of Stanley Kubrick’s period film Barry Lyndon, which features an orchestrated version of a Handel sarabande. See templebar.ie for more details.