Virtuoso Voices™ - Martin Pearlman (Messiah 360)  0:28
December 2009 CD 


[Use this clip to enhance your introduction of Martin Pearlman's recording of Handel's Messiah (complete or excerpts) (Telarc 80322 and 80348).]


SUGGESTED HOST INTRO

There's a longstanding debate over the appropriate time of year to perform Handel's "Messiah."  With its Christmas and Easter messages, is it more authentic to the Christmas or Easter season?  Here's the definitive answer according to Handel and conductor Martin Pearlman.


CLIP TRANSCRIPT

"The most consistent time that he performed it, which was towards the end of his life, tended to be in May.  It was not related to holidays.  This is not a church piece, it's not meant for religious observance necessarily.  The person who took the biblical texts and assembled them called it a 'fine entertainment,' which is a very interesting way of thinking about the work.  So people have used it for Christmas, they've used it for Easter, and Handel used it for neither one."


SUGGESTED HOST OUTRO

Conductor Martin Pearlman with the surprising performing history of Handel's "Messiah."  (Introduce Messiah performance -- complete or specific excerpt(s).)



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