Handel and Haydn Society Announces 2007-2008 Season

Sir Roger Norrington, Artistic Advisor; Grant Llewellyn, Principal Conductor; and Christopher Hogwood, Conductor Laureate, headline the Society's 193rd season.

Season features the returns of conductor John Nelson and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, the debut of Harry Christophers, a collaboration with the Huntington Theatre Company, and music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and more.

Holiday celebrations include the 154 th annual performances of Handel's Messiah, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, and the third annual Holiday Sing.

BOSTON, MA: The Handel and Haydn Society announces its 2007-2008 season including ten programs—a total of 21 concerts—featuring beloved masterpieces from the Baroque and Classical eras played on the instruments and in the style from the composers' day. Sir Roger Norrington begins his second year as Artistic Advisor; Grant Llewellyn, who served as Music Director from 2001 through 2006, continues in his role as Principal Conductor; and Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood returns. Three high-profile conductors who specialize in historically informed performance make guest appearances, including Harry Christophers, John Nelson, and Philip Pickett. Associate Conductor and Chorusmaster John Finney offers a Holiday Sing, and Concertmaster Daniel Stepner leads a program of Italian Baroque concertos. Concerts take place at Boston's Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory.

GRANT LLEWELLYN OPENS THE SEASON WITH DISTINCTLY BEETHOVEN
Principal Conductor Grant Llewellyn and the Handel and Haydn Society Period-Instrument Orchestra open the Society's 193 rd season with “Distinctly Beethoven” on October 19 and 21, 2007, at Symphony Hall (301 Massachusetts Avenue). Llewellyn shares his passion for symphonies by Beethoven with the Seventh Symphony, receiving its first Handel and Haydn performance in 141 years.

Popular fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout joins Llewellyn to play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. A specialist on historic keyboards and a rising star in the classical music world, Bezuidenhout is a familiar presence on the Handel and Haydn stage, having played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in the 2003-2004 season and concertos by Mozart in 2005-2006.

"HALLELUJAH"-- IT'S THE HOLIDAYS!
Handel and Haydn joyfully starts the holiday season with its 154th annual performances of Handel's Messiah on November 30 and December 1 and 2 at Symphony Hall. “Messiah” is the Society's signature work and has been performed for more than one million Bostonians since Handel and Haydn gave the American premiere in 1818. Soloists include soprano Cyndia Sieden, mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Tom Randle, baritone Christopher Purves.

The esteemed British conductor Harry Christophers, whose 1997 recording of Messiah won the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque, makes his Handel and Haydn Society Boston debut. Christophers is known internationally as founder and conductor of The Sixteen(UK), the award-winning choral ensemble that specializes in Baroque and Renaissance repertoire. He makes regular guest conducting appearances with many of world's leading symphony orchestras and opera companies. Harry Christophers made his Handel and Haydn Society debut last September conducting the Period-Instrument Orchestra at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria.

On December 8, the Handel and Haydn Chorus presents its third annual Holiday Sing at Symphony Hall. Associate Conductor John Finney conducts choral works for the season. Special guests include the Handel and Haydn Youth Chorus (Heather Tryon, director), a brass ensemble, and the Back Bay Ringers handbell ensemble (Griff Gall, director). The audience will be invited to join in singing Christmas carols and choruses from Handel's Messiah.

On December 16 and 19, Principal Conductor Grant Llewellyn leads the Chorus and Orchestra in Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Cantatas I-3) in the intimate setting of New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall (30 Gainsborough Street, Boston). Soloists include soprano Kristen Watson, alto Krista River, tenor Aaron Sheehan, and baritone Philip Cutlip.

HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY GOES FOR BAROQUE
On January 11 and 13, 2008, British conductor Philip Pickett, founding Director of Music at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, makes his Handel and Haydn debut leading the Period-Instrument Orchestra in Baroque Jewels for the English Theatre at NEC's Jordan Hall. Pickett presents instrumental and vocal works for the stage, including selections from Handel's Acis and Galatea and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Indian Queen. Soprano Nathalie Paulin and baritone Jason Grant are featured soloists. Scenes from great moments in the English theatre – including works by Baroque era writers - will be performed under the direction of Nicholas Martin, Artistic Director of the Huntington Theatre Company.

Handel and Haydn Society Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington makes his first appearances in the 2007-2008 season conducting the Period-Instrument Orchestra in Royal Fireworks on January 25 and 27 at Symphony Hall. Norrington, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997, conducts a program of Baroque favorites inspired by or composed for the royal court. Works include Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 4, Purcell's The Fairy Queen, and a suite from Rameau's Les Boréades.

MASTERING THE CLASSICS WITH MOZART AND HAYDN
On February 15, 16 and 17 the distinguished American conductor John Nelson gives his first Handel and Haydn performances in 17 years, leading the Chorus and Period-Instrument Orchestra in Mozart's Requiem, made famous in part by the movie Amadeus and considered one of the most beloved compositions in all of music. Performances take place at Symphony Hall and include Mozart's choral gem Ave Verum Corpus and the Symphony No. 39. Soloists are soprano Christine Brandes, mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy, tenor Charles Reid, and bass Alfred Walker. John Nelson serves as Music Director of L'Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and is highly regarded for his performances of music by Mozart and Haydn. He made his Handel and Haydn debut in 1991 conducting Handel's Messiah.

Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood and the Handel and Haydn Period-Instrument Orchestra offer Classical Masters on March 7 and 9 at Symphony Hall. The program gives audience members a chance to compare and contrast music by Mozart and Haydn, the two composers who define the Classical era. Hogwood conducts Mozart's Symphony No. 25 and Horn Concerto in E-flat Major (reconstructed by Robert Levin) and Haydn's Symphony No. 88 and the Horn Concerto No. 1. James Sommerville, who serves as Principal Horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, plays on an 18 th -century instrument. Sommerville made his Handel and Haydn solo debut in the 2002-2003 season.

Principal players from the Handel and Haydn Society Period-Instrument Orchestra come together for the Italian Virtuosi on March 21 and 23 at Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory. Handel and Haydn Concertmaster Daniel Stepner directs concertos by composers who were also leading performers of their day, including Corelli and Vivaldi. Handel's Delirio Amoroso for soprano, written during the composer's three-year sojourn to Italy, will be sung by soprano Dominique Labelle.

SIR ROGER'S HAYDN
To conclude the 2007-2008 season, Handel and Haydn's Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington conducts the Chorus and Period-Instrument Orchestra in two works by Haydn on April 4 and 6 at Symphony Hall. Haydn's Symphony No. 44 “Trauer” with its tempestuous emotions is paired with the Mass No. 14, Harmoniemesse, the last of his six great masses, written in 1802, when the mature composer was at the peak of his creative powers. A leader in the field of Historically Informed Performance, Sir Roger is acclaimed worldwide for his revolutionary interpretations of music by Haydn in concerts with both modern- and period-instrument orchestras. Soloists include tenor John McVeigh and bass Robert Gleadow.

TICKETS: Subscriptions ($54 - $501) are on sale and may be purchased through the Handel and Haydn Society Box Office, Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm, by phone at 617-266-3605 or in person at Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston. Patrons may also subscribe online at www.handelandhaydn.org. Single tickets go on sale September 4.

HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
Founded in 1815, the Handel and Haydn Society is a chorus and period-instrument orchestra known internationally for “infusing the music of the past with pure headlong energy” (Boston Globe). Under the leadership of Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington, Principal Conductor Grant Llewellyn and Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood, the Society offers historically informed programs of music from the Baroque and Classical eras. Recent seasons have featured a series of staged operas and programs with dance, including Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, Orfeo (co-production with English National Opera), and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. The Society also has featured the Boston debut of many rising stars, such as tenor Placido Domingo and sopranos Dawn Upshaw, Sylvia McNair, and Christine Brewer.

Handel and Haydn may be heard nationally on NPR's prestigious SymphonyCast program and on numerous recordings, such as the Grammy Award-winning Lamentations and Praises, All is Bright and PEACE, which has appeared twice in the top ten on Billboard Magazine's Classical Chart. The Society made its European debut in 1996 at the Edinburgh Festival with a fully staged production of Gluck's Orfeo and its European continental debut in September 2006 at the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt Austria. On July 23, Sir Roger Norrington leads the Chorus and Orchestra in their London and BBC Proms debuts with a performance of Haydn's The Seasons at Royal Albert Hall. The Society's award-winning Educational Outreach Program provides opportunities to learn about and perform classical music for more than 10,000 public school students throughout greater Boston area.