What better for Easter Sunday than a song about resurrection? This is one of the pieces I played for my mother in her last weeks, so excuse me if I get a bit teary.
I didn't play it to her for any theological reasons, but because she had always loved The Messiah and because Philippe Sly's voice is simply magnificent. Though it is interesting to be reminded by this that, for early Christians, there was nothing metaphorical about their expectations of bodily resurrection,
A word too for the trumpeter here. Apparently, the Baroque Trumpet, which does not have valves like a modern trumpet, is extremely difficult to play.
If you like Handel and baroque trumpets, I can recommend some of the recordings Aksel Rykkvin made with Mark Bennett - Let the Bright Seraphim, for instance.
I heard Rykkvin give an impressive baritone recital at the National Liberal Club last year, but it's not so long since he was the most celebrated treble in the world.
