The 30th season of Pažaislis Music Festival will begin with a special and symbolic piece, that started the history of the tradition establishing festival – George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah”. At the end of July of 1995, a crowd of three thousand people gathered to witness an extraordinary event. After such success and support from the public, the idea to organize this exceptional music project was born.
“It is often the case that great people come close to triumph, when it seems they are about to lose it all. It seemed as if Handel had lost. Right at that time he composed the work bound to help him become famous worldwide”, wrote Romain Rolland, researcher of Handel’s works. The composer of almost forty operas and numerous instrumental compositions lost the admiration of the people by turning to the genre of oratorio. His enemies, the English aristocracy, hired people to tear down the posters, thus no one attented his concerts. Handel decided to leave England, although he managed to find some strength to compose one of his bests oratorios, “Messiah”, in just 24 days. He composed with passion, and after finishing “Hallelujah”, he exclaimed tearfully: “I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God himself.”
The text of the oratorio was written by the composer’s friend and literary scholar Charles Jennens. It debuted on 13th of April 1742 in The Great Music Hall in Dublin, and was conducted by Handel himself. In London, “Messiah” was opposed by the church and the poster only read “Church Oratorio”. In Handel’s native Germany, “Messiah” was performed thirty years after its debute, while throughout Europe the version edited by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the most frequently performed, which became one of the most popular oratorios.
Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” will be performed by selected artists for the opening of the jubilee Pažaislis Music Festival: Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra led by Sergej Krylov, Kaunas State Choir led by Robertas Šervenikas and famous soloists: Lina Dambrauskaitė (soprano), Rachael Wilson (mezzo-soprano, USA), Anthony Gregory (tenor, UK), and Tadas Girininkas (bass). Hossein Pishkar, a young director of the new generation, whose career in Europe is developing at an astonishing pace, will conduct. The concert will take place at Pažaislis Monastery – a special place, where classical music intertwines with history.
