Cincinnati Opera and 90.9 WGUC present a special encore presentation of Hallelujah Handel. Hosted by Cincinnati Opera’s Evans Mirageas, this four-part series explores the life and work of George Frideric Handel, the first truly internationally successful composer, from his apprentice days in Rome to his creation of the phenomenon Messiah. Listen on 90.9 FM or wguc.org/listen.

Part IV: The Messiah Phenomenon

A virtue born of necessity. That’s how Handel essentially invented the form of music we know and love today as the English oratorio—a sacred music-drama. When the English public began to turn away from Handel’s form of Italian opera and the religious views of those in power placed severe strictures on performing operas during the Lenten season, Handel wrote oratorios, often using the same solo singers who peopled his virtuoso operas. These religious dramas also featured choruses, something mostly absent from Handel’s operas. The most spectacular fruit of this period is Messiah, written in the short space of three weeks in August 1741, in the middle of a devastating London heat wave. From its premiere in Dublin the following April, it has gone on to become the most beloved oratorio of all—it has been performed in versions ranging from the most intimate settings to grand Messiah festivals using choruses and orchestras of several hundred. Mirageas explores the Messiah phenomenon and the reasons it has become Handel’s most celebrated work and one of the iconic pieces of classical music.