Dunedin Consort helps Radio 3 celebrate Handel

In case you've missed it 2009 is the 250th anniversary of Handel's death. Several composers have anniversaries this year including Purcell, Haydn and Mendelssohn (to name a few), but Handel is possibly one of the most significant. BBC Radio 3 is celebrating the composer's remarkable catalogue of works with several special broadcasts. Included in these special broadcasts, and for the first time ever, you can hear all of Handel's operas in one broadcast series.

On the 5th March on BBC Radio 3 the director of the Dunedin Consort, John Butt, will join Ian Skelly to discuss Handel's opera, ‘Acis & Galatea'. Following this discussion the complete opera will be played in full. This is a fantastic, and rare, opportunity to hear one of Handel's most delightful works performed in whole by the Dunedin Consort, a performance which Gramophone stated as "utterly magical".

‘Acis & Galatea' will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 from 2pm on Thursday the 5th March but can be heard online until the 12th March 2009. Please click here for more information on BBC Radio 3's Handel Opera Cycle.