Opus Arte

14 April 1759 – death of George Frideric Handel. Handel stayed in Ireland for about eight months after Messiah opened, but then returned to London, happier and richer. He had a cataract in one eye which was performed upon by ‘Chevalier’ John Taylor, oculist to the king, and considered widely to have caused the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. Handel went blind. He died in London aged 74. Over 3000 people attended his funeral and he was buried at Westminster Abbey.

13 April 1742 – the first performance of Handel’s Messiah. Handel was running the Covent Garden Theatre and had enjoyed fame and success in London. But times were changing, he was falling out of favour and the theatre was gaining a reputation as a low haunt. Handel jumped at an invitation to Dublin, to host a charity performance. He had written Messiah in three weeks in London, and despite initial protest from the church in Ireland, in Dublin it was debuted, to a rapturous reception.

© Mark Kamin (Dec, 2006)

11 April 1888 – opening of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The inaugural concert featured 120 musicians and 500 choristers, performing works by Beethoven, Bach, Handel and Wagner. The building had been finished in 1886 but a stream of bizarre concerns ranging from the provision of street lighting and the necessity of filling in a small canal delayed the grand opening for almost two years.