Handel's Messiah

Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music perform Handel’s Messiah – a Christmas tradition that they’ve made their own.

Sing hallelujah! Handel’s Messiah isn’t just a seasonal fixture. It’s one of those pieces that transcends time, place and culture; singing of humanity – and hope – ever since the mid-18th century. Ev’ry Valley, For Unto Us a Child is Born, I Know that My Redeemer Liveth… you already know the tunes. With Laurence Cummings directing AAM, they’ll sound as if the ink has hardly dried.

For Academy of Ancient Music Messiah is part of who they are. Nearly half a century ago they were the first orchestra to record it in something like the style and scale of Handel’s own era, and there’s still nothing to match the intimacy, the grandeur and (above all) the pure joy of hearing Messiah played on period instruments. This is a masterpiece that always has something fresh to say – and they’re always thrilled to share it.