Classical Notes

Messiah comes not in single file, but in battalion at this time of the year. And who's complaining?

It gives some of our finest choirs the opportunity of showing off a national heirloom. Well, er, almost. We may not have exclusive proprietary rights, but we certainly have a vested interest in the musical masterpiece.

And yet the real Messiah, the version Dubliners heard 262 years ago, remains strangely elusive. It differed in many ...