Messiah | Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Even for a composer who tended to work quickly, Handel found himself in the grip of total inspiration when he came to write Messiah in the summer of 1741. ‘The power of the musical imagination, the wealth of ideas, the depth of inspiration, and the variety of invention continue to astonish,’ concluded the late Handel scholar Clifford Bartlett. Generations have concurred, and Messiah has held audiences awestruck for three centuries. In the striking architecture of the Olivier Hall at St Edward’s School, Steven Grahl of Christ Church conducts the orchestra and his own choir in a performance of Messiah – a Christmas essential not to be missed.