The Barbirolli Society’s latest release is a 2-CD set of Handel’s Messiah with soloists Elizabeth Harwood, Marjorie Thomas, Gerald English and Kim Borg, and with the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and the Hallé Orchestra. The performance was broadcast on 6 December 1964 from Bell Vue, Manchester.

For Barbirolli Handel’s Messiah was more than a great work of art: for him, as we may hear throughout this performance, the oratorio reveals aspects of the European human condition of universal significance. As yet another example of Barbirolli’s interpretative genius, the work once more transcends time and place, as this great musician uncovers the inner spirituality through his recreation of the music, his inspiring conviction and understanding conveyed through his musicians’ performance after more than half a century.

This Limited Edition 2-CD set is released by arrangement with BBC Music.