BBC Religion and BBC Cymru Wales have commissioned Somersault Studio to make Gareth Malone’s Messiah (W/T) – two x 60 minute documentaries and 1 x 120 minute performance that will be broadcast across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Cymru Wales at Easter.
275 years after George Frideric Handel performed his Messiah for the benefit of London’s foundlings, Gareth Malone is set to stage his own performance of the nation’s favourite choral piece in the surroundings of Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral as a fundraiser for BBC Children in Need.
Somersault Studio has been commissioned to make the project following on from a successful earlier series, Gareth Malone’s Easter Passion, broadcast in 2024. The programmes will see Gareth trim hundreds of applicants down to just eight singers who have never sung in a classical choir before, and then train them to perform a work that has dominated the British choral tradition for hundreds of years. Gareth’s eight singers will reveal even the most inexperienced musicians can tackle Messiah as they bring enthusiasm and hard work to this once-in-a-lifetime challenge.
Gareth’s new recruits, might not have tried choral music before or even heard of Handel, but they will have just seven weeks from audition to performing Messiah alongside the acclaimed BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. Also appearing will be a professional cast of soprano Jessica Robinson, alto Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, baritone Roderick Williams OBE who sang at the King’s Coronation, and tenor James Way.
Gareth Malone said: “Handel’s Messiah was one of the very first concerts that I went to as a child with my parents, and it’s a work that my Welsh grandmother sang in a choir. So I am shouting Hallelujah to the rafters at the prospect of sharing this magnificent work with eight complete newbie choral singers. I will relish going on this adventure with them, many of whom are overcoming personal challenges, building to the concert of a lifetime for both them and me.”
Richard Farmbrough said: “Messiah is often described as the world’s most popular choral work, performed everywhere from the grandest of concert stages to the humblest of village halls. It also seems to have been continuously performed since the 1750 concert at the Foundling Hospital, and rightly so. With tunes as breathtaking as the Hallelujah Chorus this oratorio is part of our cultural shorthand. We are delighted to be making this series and there is no one better than Gareth Malone to bring Handel’s genius to an even wider audience.”
The series of two x 60 minute documentaries and 1 x 120 minute performance was commissioned by Christina Macaulay for BBC Cymru Wales and Daisy Scalchi, BBC Head of Religion. The documentaries will be directed by Dave Huw Jones; the performance is produced by Rhian Williams and directed by Rhodri Huw. Richard Farmbrough and Owen Rodd executive produce for Somersault Studio. The programmes will be broadcast across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Cymru Wales at Easter.
The project has been supported by the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.
Staff Reporter
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