handle handel?

so i went to a performance of handel's messiah on saturday night - never really been to anything like that before - and i think most of it was lost on me, as one who fails to appreciate the finer points of music. still, good horizon-broadening experience, and a nice enough (though expensive!) activity to share with a friend. it was performed by 4 soloists with the backing of the brisbane chorale and queensland orchestra. apparently it was a very rare performance, given that they were using handel's original manuscript.

i pretty much knew nothing about "messiah" heading into it, other than having heard the term mentioned in conjuntion with the composer (and i don't know much about him either!)... once again google was my friend in pointing me to a bit of background skimming :) and i even remembered something i had read about why the audience stands during the hallelujah chorus (the only part of the whole performance i vaguely recognised) at the end of part the second! see, i do have a culture bone in my body ;)

anyways, took a snapshot before i went into the venue (main auditorium, brisbane city hall) - gives me an excuse to show a pic in my blog :p this is the christmas tree at king george square, with the city hall and clock tower in the background.

haven't yet found an easy/convenient/free way to upload photos to which i can directly link, so this will have to be an irregular special. so back to handling handel's messiah... it's all about / inspired by (bible verses concerning) the birth, death and resurrection of the God-man jesus christ. and as per most of the advertising/publicity associated with performances of handel's messiah, this is a "must-see". make sure you don't miss out on the CHRIST of christmas.

feliz navidad :)