1786—Leipzig, Germany

Handel’s Messiah is conducted by Johann Hiller. According to a review of the performance by a local newspaper, Leipziger Zeitung, “The inhabitants of the city had the pleasure last Friday of hearing the great [and] excellent piece by Handel, The Messiah, in the University Church in the evening while it was lit up, performed by a large orchestra and executed to the best effect….The instrumental ensemble consisted of 22 first and 21 second violins, 13 violas, 12 cellos and 12 basses, 8 flutes, 10 oboes, 10 bassoons, 8 hunting horns, 7 trombones, 6 trumpets and a pair of kettledrums….The performance went off uncommonly well” (Bowles, Timpani 460).