Baroque Banter Episode 34: Handel's Messiah: Origins and Afterlife

Recorded live at the State Library of NSW, this episode of Baroque Banter takes you on a captivating journey into the origins and afterlife of Handel’s Messiah. Ahead of Pinchgut Opera’s upcoming performance of the Original 1742 Dublin Version, Dr Erin Helyard, Artistic Director of Pinchgut Opera and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, guides us through the rich history, context, and evolution of Handel’s masterpiece. The episode also features a special live performance by mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms, accompanied by Erin on harpsichord. Select Bibliography Donald Burrows, Handel: Messiah (Cambridge Music Handbooks, 1991) Lydia Goehr, The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works: An Essay in the Philosophy of Music (Oxford, 1992) Charles King, Every Valley: The Story of Handel’s Messiah (Random House, 2024) Ruth Smith, Charles Jennens: The Man Behind Handel’s Messiah (Handel House Trust, 2012) Ruth Smith, Handel's Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1995)