Messiah celebrates meaning of Easter

A CHORUS of more than 80 Tasmanian singers will perform Handel’s oratorio Messiah in Hobart on Saturday and in Launceston on Monday.

Conducted by musical director Margot Lampkin, the performance will feature a chorus drawn from the Lincoln Singers, Southern Voices and Men in Black, plus soloists Helen Thomson and Tamsyn Stock Stafford (sopranos), Maree-Rose Jones (mezzosoprano), Christopher Byrg (tenor) and Michael Lampard (bass). They will be accompanied by the 30-piece Boa Vista Strings, made up of senior students and teachers from The Friends’ School.

Lampkin said the oratorio was much loved around the world and was an ideal work to be performed at Easter.

“Handel wrote the complete work, based on the life of Christ, in just 21 days in 1741, and it has been performed all around the world ever since the first performance in Dublin in April 1742,” she said. “We have abridged the full three-hour work to just over two hours and will sing most of all the five sections — The Promise of the Messiah, The Coming, The Life, The Death and The Triumph of the Messiah.”

Choral Productions Tasmania presents Handel’s Messiah at The Friends School’s Farrall Centre in North Hobart from 2pm Saturday; and at the Launceston Convention Centre from 2pm Monday. Tickets are $35 for adults, $30 concession and $10 for children aged 6-16. Tickets are available at the door, or from www.trybooking.com