Messiah on Good Friday

The Royal Choral Society performed Handel’s Messiah in its first season in 1872, but it was in 1876 that the first Good Friday afternoon performance at the Royal Albert Hall took place, and it quickly became an Easter tradition. The coronavirus pandemic meant that the 2020 concert was cancelled but the 2021 concert went ahead, albeit delayed to Trinity Sunday in May, and performed under Covid regulations with a choir of 120 all 2m apart, an organ accompaniment, and a socially distanced audience of just 800.

The 2022 concert was therefore the first ‘proper’ Good Friday Messiah concert for three years, and the choir kicked off its 150^th Anniversary Season in style with Handel’s magnificent tour de force.

This concert was the perfect way to spend Good Friday afternoon. Messiah is the UK’s favourite choral masterpiece, unchanging yet ever-changing with revelations of hidden texture and nuance at every performance. It is thought that the Royal Choral Society sung Handel’s masterwork more than any other choir – estimated as around 280 times.

Our concert image features a goldfinch. In Christian symbolism the European goldfinch is associated with Christ’s Passion. Legend has it that a goldfinch tried to pluck away the crown of thorns, and blood from Jesus’ wounds dripped onto its face, creating the distinctive red patches. This beautiful little ‘saviour’ bird appears in many paintings of the Madonna and Christ child as an emblem of endurance and fruitfulness