A BIT OF SEASONING : Handel’s ‘Messiah’ Wasn’t Always a Christmas Classic

Handel’s “Messiah” began as an Easter event, but no matter. In the 19th Century, the oratorio became so popular that once a year was not enough, and so it also became synonymous with Christmastime. No holiday season now can seem complete for classical music lovers without at least one performance of the work.

Michael Palmer will lead the Pacific Symphony and the Pacific Chorale in “Messiah” on Saturday afternoon at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Soloists include soprano Michele Patzakis, mezzo-soprano Patricia McAfee, tenor Beau Palmer (no relation to the conductor) and baritone Richard Bernstein.

Handel wrote the work in an astonishingly short period of 24 days in the summer of 1741. But far from being exhausted from the effort, he then went on immediately to compose the oratorio “Samson,” finishing the first part of that major work within 15 days.

“Messiah” was premiered on April 17, 1742, in Dublin because it had been composed for the benefit of local charities in that city. The text was drawn from the Bible by the English author and librettist Charles Jennens, who collaborated with the composer on other projects and who wasn’t entirely happy with Handel’s music.

Neither were the audiences in London when the work was first performed there in 1743. Londoners initially were cool to the idea of presenting a religious subject on a theater--that is, secular--stage. They felt religious subjects should be presented only in a church.

But the “Hallelujah!” chorus drew enthusiasm. King George II was in the audience and rose to his feet during the closing measures, thereby initiating the tradition still observed by many audiences of standing during this chorus.

Handel won over his London audiences gradually by giving a series of “Messiah” Lenten concerts to benefit the Foundling Hospital in that city.

But because he often had different soloists available to him during those years--1742 to 1759--he sometimes wrote alternative arias to better show off or suit their voices.

There are also different versions of a few choruses. Few of these alternates are heard in most live performances of the work.

But an inclusive recording of all the possible “Messiah” options is available.

It was issued last year by Harmonia Mundi, and it took three compact discs. These could be programmed to reproduce any of 13 versions--beginning with the original manuscript, which Handel scholar Christopher Hogwood says was never performed exactly as written.

Others versions include the Dublin premiere and four different performances at Covent Garden in London.

It is a terrific marketing idea, which is what a company might need these days to compete with the more than 20 other recordings available.