Handel's sacred oratorio Messiah is perhaps the greatest in the English repertoire, constantly performed at Christmas and Easter since it was composed in 1742.
To end the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's 250th anniversary celebrations of Mozart's birth, the BPO and the Brighton Festival Chorus gave a performance of the oratorio in Mozart's arrangement, first performed in 1789.
Mozart added full orchestral arrangements, with the use of additional brass and wind instruments, and replaced the by then obsolete high trumpets of Handel with flutes, oboes and clarinets.
Barry Wordsworth's conducting turned Mozart's score into a more smooth and elegant affair than usual.
The Brighton Festival Chorus was up to its usual excellent standard and gave a soaring reading of the Hallelujah Chorus.
The whole piece made a remarkable end to the BPO's Mozart celebrations.
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