Oktave choir and friends in concert : Handel’s Messiah | Sunday Observer

Oktave choir and friends in concert : Handel’s Messiah

29 April, 2018

Handel’s Messiah is a monumental work telling the story of Christ’s life from the Old Testament to his death and resurrection. Scored for Choir, Soloists and Orchestra, the work takes about 2 ½ hours to perform and is in three parts. The Oktave choir and friends together with a chamber orchestra assembled for the occasion, will perform Parts 2 and 3 on May 10 at 6.30 pm at St. Mary’s Church, Bambalapitiya. Supported by the Devar Surya Sena Trust, the performance will be conducted by Dr. Lalanath de Silva. May 10 is “Ascension Day” in the Christian Calendar – the day the church celebrates the ascension of Christ to Heaven.

Part 2 of the Messiah is centered around the arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ. It ends with the famous Hallelujah Chorus. Part 3 is devoted to his message, the early apostles who carried his message, the church and the sacrifice made by Christ. The final chorus – Worthy is the Lamb and the great Amen stands out as a glorious ending to Handel’s magnum opus. The words are from the Bible but combined with the music, it transcends its religious message to become a message of peace, love and goodwill to all people. The Oktave choir and a chamber orchestra performed Part 1 (nativity part) last December at Yuletide. As at that performance, the Hallelujah chorus will be repeated for those in the audience who know the music to join and sing along with the choir and orchestra.

The soloists are Anagi Perera (soprano), Peshali Yapa (contralto), Trevis de Silva (Tenor) and Laknath Seneviratne (Baritone). The organist will be Neranjan de Silva and the continuo will be played by Shanthi Dias.

Commenting on the performance, Dr Lalanath de Silva said “I am so happy that Oktave wants to perform parts 2 and 3 of the Messiah, thus concluding the performance of the Messiah from cover to cover. Parts 2 and 3 of this work takes nearly 90 minutes to perform. The Messiah, when broken into its three components and performed at appropriate times of the church calendar helps to inspire and motivate the faithful, and offers music lovers of every walk of life, and religion the opportunity to enjoy Handel’s superlative choral and orchestral writing. Handel was a true master of musical painting – the music often deriving its colour and mood from the words.”

The performance is free, and all are welcome. 


Rehearsals in progress 

Comments