On Saturday, 26 December 2020, the most beautiful excerpts from a real festive piece, the oratorio Messiah by Händel could be heard in a Mozartian version from the Sándor Hevesi Stage of the Eiffel Art Studios. The performance was streamed from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.
Proclaiming (notably with the popular Hallelujah chorus) the coming and resurrection of the Saviour, Messiah remains to this day one of the most popular of Händel’s works. A little under half a century after its 1742 world premiere in Dublin, it was performed for the first time in the revised and rescored German-language version Der Messias created by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The "German Messiah" thus is the fruit of an extraordinary “collaboration” between two geniuses: the scintillating brilliance of Händel as interpreted by Mozart. Mozart’s arrangement was first staged by Ferenc Anger at the Erkel Theatre in 2019, sung in a new Hungarian translation by Ádám Nádasdy.
The highlights of the oratorio featuring costumes by Mónika Szelei were staged by Mária Harangi. Soloists of the production were Rita Rácz, Atala Schöck, István Horváth and Krisztián Cser. The performance featured Pálma Hidegkuti (piano) and the Hungarian State Opera Chorus (chorus master: Gábor Csiki). Conductor: Gergely Kesselyák. The performance was narrated by Dániel Mona.
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by Péter Rákossy