The Seckerson Tapes: Messiah, ENO

reviews, news & interviews

With its powerfully emotive stagings of Bach's St John Passion and Verdi's Requiem English National Opera has built something of a reputation for bringing sacred masterworks to the secular stage. Award-winning director Deborah Warner, conductor and Handel specialist Lawrence Cummings, and ENO's indefatigable chorus master Martin Merry tell Edward Seckerson about the challenges of making a credible stage spectacle of Handel's Messiah, which opens on Friday 27 November.

"It's about us all," says Warner, when asked how inclusive this most popular of all sacred oratorios can be. And she promises to be as good as her word by involving a cross-section of the local community in her vision. "There could be upwards of a hundred people on stage," says Lawrence Cummings, who promises of great public racket for the celebrated "Hallelujah Chorus". So is the fourth wall coming down? Will we the audience be following King George II's example and rising to our feet...?

Listen to the podcast here.

The Messiah performances at the London Coliseum 27, 29 November, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 11 December. Check out what's on in the ENO season

Support the future of arts journalism

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thanks so much for choosing genuinely independent arts journalism theartsdesk’s mission has never been more important – in an age of relentless algorithmic recommendation, sponsored content and unreliable AI, the expertise and discernment of individual critics deeply embedded in their specialist areas is absolutely vital.

If you want more of that in your life, why not subscribe now?

If you do this before the 31st August, you’ll be able to keep at this “founders rate” for life: your subs will never increase! You can choose to subscribe annually for just £40 simply click here
or monthly for £5 per month simply click here.

Not ready to subscribe?

If you want to support with a little extra or aren’t ready to subscribe just yet, there’s also the option to give direct to our crowdfunder to support our imminent redesign and exciting expansion with new features and collaborations Simply contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d.

However you choose to be involved, you can proudly say that you are picking the right side in the battle for truth and humanity in the modern information landscape. And we will be very glad to have you on board!