La Resurrezione by Handel

George Frideric Handel was a traveller by nature and a theatre composer by vocation. His desire to learn led the young musician to become a master in all genres: oratorio, opera, cantata, religious music and instrumental music.

In 1707 he started work as resident composer for the Marquess Francesco Maria Ruspoli, who commissioned him to write a complete oratorio for Easter the following year, a work that he hoped would impress the Pope. Handel produced a score that was a masterpiece: La Resurrezione, recounting the events that took place between the burial of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. The first performance took place in the Bonelli Palace on Easter Sunday, 8 April 1708.