12-15-19 Handel’s Messiah - WCRI’s Festival Series featuring The Newport Music Festival

In this program WCRI host Mike Maino and Newport Music Festival Executive Director Pamela Pantos discuss George Frideric Handel's Messiah. The Messiah was originally an Easter offering. It burst onto the stage of Musick Hall in Dublin on April 13, 1742. The audience swelled to a record 700, as ladies had heeded pleas by management to wear dresses "without Hoops" in order to make "Room for more company." Handel's superstar status was not the only draw; many also came to glimpse the contralto, Susannah Cibber, then embroiled in a scandalous divorce. For more information on the Newport Music Festival, to purchase tickets to an upcoming concert or to make a donation please visit newportmusic.org or call 401-846-1133.