ENO plans Messiah with twice as many soloists

English National Opera is planning a BBC2 Messiah for Easter. Singers, chorus and orchestra will be socially distanced across the stage and auditorium, but there will be twice as many soloists as we’d expect:

ENO will return to the custom of performances in Handel’s lifetime, using a broader spectrum of solo voices than the usual four, featuring instead a bigger cast of eight outstanding soloists. Established, celebrated stars of the operatic world such as mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and countertenor Iestyn Davies, join the exciting new talents of current and former ENO Harewood Artists – sopranos Nadine Benjamin and Nardus Williams, tenors Anthony Gregory and John Findon, baritone Benson Wilson and bass William Thomas.

Who gets which aria?

pic: Messiah from Scratch, 2014