The Astana Opera Orchestra, the Dubai Festival Chorus, and conductor Rob Johnston perform the classic mainstay of the festive season \u2013 one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral pieces in Western music. Famously Handel composed Messiah in just 24 days without much sleep or food; and while writing the great \u2018Hallelujah\u2019 chorus Handel\u2019s servant discovered him with tears in his eyes and he exclaimed, \u201cI did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself seated on His throne, with His company of Angels\u201d. Powerful stuff.<\/p>\n
The Orchestra of the Asrtana State Opera and Ballet has more than 120 musicians, many of them required for this full-bodied piece. Rob Johnston, a noted tenor as well as conductor, has led the Dubai Festival Chorus since 2019; the Chorus is a talented group of singers drawn from across the UAE, originally brought together for the Dubai debut of the BBC Proms and now numbering over 200 members of 25 different nationalities.<\/p>\n
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