Article published in Manchester Evening News 23 October 2015

HARRY CHRISTOPHERS and his choral-orchestral group, The Sixteen, are firm favourites at the Bridgewater Hall – and ‘associate artists’, too, so it’s official.

On October 30 they’re presenting a festival of Handel’s music … some of Handel’s greatest hits, if you like. The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba, the overture to Jephtha, the coronation anthem Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened and extended cantata Dixit Dominus are all music they’ve performed here before (though some years ago), and they’re adding the Chandos anthem no. 11, Let God Arise, to that.

But Harry’s not apologizing for them repeating themselves. “Let God Arise has resonances with Dixit Dominus, which is an earlier work,” he says. “Handel often re-worked his own (and other people’s) music, and there are many similarities here, but ideas are also extended and elaborated.

“The anthem does not require violas, but there are parts for solo oboe and bassoon, and the writing is exciting, with two lovely vocal solos.

“Dixit Dominus itself is a showcase for any good choir. It really shows the depth of their sound – and of the orchestra, too, which a lot of people forget.

“Ours is full of really good players. They absolutely love being a complement to the choir, and they’re totally attentive to what’s being sung, which is not always the case!”

I asked him about the secret of Handel’s enduring popularity and fascination. “He often makes beauty out of total simplicity,” he said. “Think of the famous arias, such as Ombra mai fu (‘Handel’s Largo’), Where E’er You Walk and Lascia Chi’o Pianga – they are wonderfully sensual, joyous or painful.

“In his operas he could get behind the characters he was writing for … and we see something of that in his religious music, too.

“And he is a master of choruses. He can take a simple figure and maintain it, with a sense of ebb and flow, with a cumulative quality that builds through to the last few bars.”

The Sixteen are now engaged on a project that’s very much for Manchester and will reach its culmination at Easter weekend next year. They’re collaborating with Streetwise Opera, a charity that works with people who have experienced homelessness, to present The Passion – a fully-staged, abridged version of Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

It will have a new finale written by Sir James MacMillan to a libretto by Streetwise Opera performers, and be performed in the Victorian iron and glass surroundings of Campfield Market.