When St George’s Church in Hanover Square opened in the 1720s, Handel lived just round the corner. He made St George’s his place of worship and his presence hovers still, making it the ideal home base for the London Handel Festival.
For this opening night celebration of the 2022 festival, musical director Laurence Cummings assembled a kind of greatest hits package, kicking off with Zadok the Priest. First heard at George II’s 1727 coronation, it has been a coronation fixture ever since. Familiarity has not bred contempt: even the most ardent republicans among us couldn’t help but be stirred by the sheer energy of this performance.
