Heavenly choirs, blaring trumpets and thundering timpani! Experience a grand and heartfelt Christmas atmosphere when the 100-year-old Radio Choir rounds off its anniversary year together with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and brilliant soloists in Johann Sebastian Bach’s timeless Christmas Oratorio under the direction of chief conductor Kaspars Putninš.

EPSG:4326

Bach's Christmas Oratorio part 1–3

Berwaldhallen

Christmas Oratorio

Bochumer Symphoniker

Bach's Christmas Oratorio

Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is one of the choral masterpieces of the Baroque era. Originally intended to be performed over six days between Christmas and Epiphany, Parts one, two, three and six explore the Birth of Jesus, the annunciation to the shepherds, and the adoration of the shepherds.

Saffron Hall

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Christmas is a busy time for everyone – including a composer like Johann Sebastian Bach in the 1730s. Not only is he responsible for all the music in Leipzig's churches and for teaching the students at the associated school – he also has to write new music for the many holidays. And in the midst of a daily routine that would have caused most people stress in a single week, Bach writes some of the greatest masterpieces of Western civilization.

The Christmas Oratorio

Maribo Cathedral

Church of Our Lady Copenhagen

St. Mary's Church Helsingør

SR Berwaldhallen

Envy and hatred reign in Saul's heart. For he perceives in David a rival for the throne: After David's victory over the giant Goliath, King Saul finds himself compelled to welcome David into his house and to honour him as a hero. When his son Jonathan and his daughter Michal side with David, and eventually even his daughter Merab acknowledges the universally celebrated hero, Saul finally decides to remove David from his path. However, David enjoys divine protection. Instead, it is Saul whose star threatens to set. With SAUL, George Frideric Handel turned to a biblical subject from the Old Testament. The subject matter was certainly controversial, as around twenty years before Handel’s arrival in London, Parliament, during the “Glorious Revolution” of 1689, had offered the British crown to William III of Orange and Mary II in order to put an end to the rule of the absolutist King James II. Georg Friedrich Handel had so far achieved one box office hit after another in London, primarily with his serious operas. However, the audience gradually seemed to be tiring of Italian opera. Thus, Händel set out in search of new paths in musical theatre. The genre of the oratorio, which he had become acquainted with during his time in Rome from 1706 to 1709, seemed suitable for this purpose. And indeed, the premiere of SAUL on 16 January 1739 at the Haymarket Theatre in London was a success, not least due to the gigantic choral numbers and the English national language in which it was sung. That SAUL is also dramatic, stage-effective musical theatre is demonstrated by the numerous musical effects with which Handel brings the story of the tormented King Saul to life. From triumphal choruses to whispers of witches to the funeral march that is still played today at state funerals worldwide. The acclaimed production from the Glyndebourne Festival, in Barrie Kosky’s opulent and profound direction, presents the Old Testament fable of envy and resentment set in London during the Georgian era, when indulgence and misery, popular entertainment and humiliation existed side by side. At the podium of the Gürzenich Orchestra stands Rubén Dubrovsky, who has already demonstrated his flair for Baroque music in Cologne with GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO and ORLANDO.

Saul

Cologne Opera

Following a triumphant debut with the Monteverdi Choir in December 2024, celebrated French baroque specialist Christophe Rousset brings his dramatic flair to Handel’s thrilling oratorio this Christmas.

The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists have been performing historically-informed Handel for almost 50 years, and are “unbeatable in the performance of this repertoire” (Scherzo). A stellar cast of soloists will join “the best choir in the world” (Trouw), bringing MCO’s trademark immediacy and drama to Handel’s festive masterpiece for the first time in over three decades.

Handel: Messiah

Église Saint-Roch

St Martin-in-the-Fields

Teatro alla Scala

Auditorium Parco della Musica

The oratorio is about the entire life of the Messiah. About the expectation of his coming, about his presence on Earth – the story of his suffering – about his death and his salvation of mankind.

Handel's Messiah

Aalborg Central Waterfront

‘I did think I did see all Heaven before me,’ wrote its composer as he finished a musical reflection on faith that still brings audiences to their feet nearly three centuries after it was written. Handel’s oratorio Messiah changed the landscape of vocal music in Britain and has provided a soundtrack to the festive period for the nearly three centuries since. Join Marios Papadopoulos, a first-rate quartet of soloists and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir for a Yuletide rendition of this rousing celebration of celestial joy and human togetherness.

Handel Messiah

University of Oxford

Handel’s great oratorio Messiah springs to life by way of the fruitful collaboration of Charles Jennens’ carefully conceived libretto and Handel’s supreme skill as a composer of the theatre. BCSD’s performance of Messiah, delivered by a dynamic cast in the manner of Handel’s dramatic operas, has become one of its crown jewels.

G.f. Handel: Messiah Hwv 232

St. Matthew's Parish School

First United Methodist Church of San Diego

The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

Featuring a stellar cast of vocal soloists, American Bach’s celebrated holiday tradition of performing Handel’s Messiah in San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral perennially provides a treasured December holiday event to capacity audiences. American Bach’s performances of Handel’s timeless work have become an essential part of the musical year for many music lovers and have attracted audiences of more than 50,000 from around the world.

Handel's Messiah in Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral

Our annual tradition of celebration of this timeless classic! Featuring Boston Baroque favorites soprano Amanda Forsythe, mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy, tenor Thomas Cooley, and Baritone Roderick Williams.

New England Conservatory

Celebrate the season with Handel’s classic oratorio, Messiah, featuring the world-famous Hallelujah Chorus. Get your tickets early, these performances have sold out three years in a row!

Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church

First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga

A holiday tradition that transcends time. From the soaring Hallelujah Chorus to the poignant He Was Despised, Handel’s Messiah continues to inspire with its message od hope, renewal, and grace.

Messiah

Colonial Woods Missionary Church

Imperial Theatre

“Hallelujah!” The Tallahassee tradition returns to the sanctuary of Trinity United Methodist Church. Few musical works are familiar to as many, and Messiah remains Handel’s best-known piece. There is no better time of year to enjoy this beautiful, sacred oratorio that has long been associated with good will and charity.

Handel’s Messiah

Trinity United Methodist Church in Tallahassee

If your Christmas plans aren’t complete until you’ve got a performance of Handel’s Messiah in the diary then look no further than critically-acclaimed opera company Wild Arts (★★★★★ Opera Now, ★★★★ The Guardian) for this year’s festive fix.

Oratorio events in Ashland this week

Bach's Christmas Oratorio...

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Christmas Oratorio

Bochumer Symphoniker

Bach's Christmas Oratorio...

Mercury Chamber Orchestra

Christmas Oratorio

Britten Sinfonia

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast - A ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast: A l...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Christmas Oratorio

Copenhagen Phil

Bach's Christmas Oratorio...

Swedish Radio Choir

Saul

Oper Köln

Handel: Messiah

English Baroque Soloists

Handel's Messiah

Aalborg Symfoniorkester

Handel Messiah

Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

G.f. Handel: Messiah Hwv ...

Bach Collegium San Diego

Handel's Messiah in Grace...

American Bach Soloists

Handel's Messiah

Boston Baroque

Handel's Messiah

Chattanooga Symphony & Opera

Messiah

International Symphony Orchestra

Handel’s Messiah

Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra

Handel’s Messiah

Sinfonia Smith Square