On 28 and 30 November 2024, audiences in Cape Town and Hermanus can experience a version of Handel’s Messiah that they might not have heard before. This will be presented by the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra (CTBO), directed from the harpsichord by Erik Dippenaar, sharing the stage with the singers of Lutesong Consort.
After the first performances of Messiah in Dublin in 1742, Handel performed the oratorio several times more during his lifetime. For each of these performances, he adjusted the work according to the singers and instrumentalists available to him – a common practice during the baroque period. Following the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra’s reconstruction of the first 1742 Dublin performance at the end of last year, the CTBO will present the work again in November 2024, this time featuring several of the alternative – and not often heard – versions of arias and choruses. CTBO’s Artistic Director, Erik Dippenaar, has specifically selected versions of the arias and recitatives that position the three soprano soloists as narrators, guiding the unfolding of the dramatic arch of this oratorio.
According to CTBO’s usual practice, the orchestra will play on period-appropriate instruments. Audiences can look forward to the sounds of gut-stringed instruments, chamber organ, harpsichord, theorbo, baroque oboe, baroque trumpet, and calfskin baroque timpani, as well as an ensemble of twelve professional singers, who will sing the chorus parts, with the soloists also forming part of the vocal ensemble. “This smaller setup of instruments and voices gives this work a lighter, chamber music-like feeling, which will illuminate the expressive nuances in the music and text,” explains Dippenaar.
The Messiah 2024 line-up
Lutesong Consort singers who grace the stage are sopranos Lynelle Kenned (soloist), Elsabé Richter (soloist) and Louise Howlett (soloist); altos Lente Louw (soloist), Nick de Jager and Vasti Zeeman-Knoesen; tenors Sandile Mabaso (soloist), Levi Alexander and Christiaan Bell; and basses Conroy Scott (soloist), Keaton Manwaring and Luvo Rasmeni. Furthermore, joining the CTBO instrumentalist forces are Austrian natural trumpeter Raphael Pouget and German baroque oboist Ingo Müller. Pouget returns to South Africa for a fourth collaboration with CTBO, following performances at the 2018 and 2019 Cape Town Baroque Festivals and the 2023 Messiah project. Müller lives in Stellenbosch and has also been a regular CTBO soloist in recent years. The performance will be directed from the harpsichord by Erik Dippenaar.
What: Handel’s Messiah 2024
Where and when: Thursday, 28 November at 7pm in Cape Town (St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, De Waterkant) | Saturday, 30 November at 3.30pm in Hermanus (Dutch Reformed Church)
Tickets: Quicket
WS
