Handel's Messiah presented by CBS Music

Handel’s Messiah will be presented by CBS Music in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Manchester St., on Sunday, December 11, 2022, at 1.30 pm.

Soloists will be Sarah-Jane Rennie, Thomas Woodfield, Wally Enright, Ken Joblin and Chris Whelan. The Cathedral Orchestra will be led by Natalia M. Lomeiko, with continuo Janet Cubey and Grant Bartley. Don Whelan will direct. Admission is by programme donation of $20 and $15, available at the door.

This annual performance has continued to attract a substantial audience. Messiah proved a popular choice on the group’s first four European tours, and its concerts throughout the Americas. While awaiting a future cathedral building. the spacious and resonant Catholic Pro-Cathedral, Manchester St, is proving an excellent concert venue and temporary home for the regular cathedral music programme. The adjacent CBS Music Centre provides a substantial second auditorium, with very good acoustics and dedicated lighting, used for rehearsals and chamber music concerts.

At this year’s Christmas Midnight Mass, the CBS Choir and Orchestra will perform Weber’s lovely “Jubilee Mass“ in G within its original liturgical context. Written in 1818 for the golden wedding of the King of Saxony in Dresden, this charming setting captivates the listener by its unaffectedness and its striking orchestral writing. Instrumental timbres colour the liturgical text, and prominent wind instruments give a Romantic expressiveness. It would have been first heard in the choir gallery of the magnificent royal chapel, now Dresden Cathedral, where CBS Choir and Orchestra have twice given concerts. The preceding vigil, beginning at 10.30 pm, will contain the usual congregational carols.

Next year, CBS Music continues its popular Lunch Plus Wednesday At One recital series, the Bach St John Passion at 8 pm on Good Friday, and another Christmas Messiah at 1.30 pm on Sunday, 10 December. Orchestral concerts are planned for 12 February and 12 March, a Patronal Festival on 11 June, and a Viennese concert on 10 September. The CBS musical year will conclude with a performance of Dvorak’s Mass in D at next year’s Christmas Midnight Mass.

New members are welcome to join the cathedral choir, which rehearses on Wednesday evenings at 7.30 pm in the CBS Music Centre. Sight reading ability is expected. Those interested should contact the musical director, Don Whelan, ph. 358 5873.