Live online - Handel: The Philanthropist | The English Concert

Though Handel was sometimes described as quick-tempered and ill-mannered by his contemporaries, he also evidently had a charitable side. Following a series of benefit performances from 1749 onward, Handel became connected with the Foundling Hospital in Bloomsbury, a home for sick, orphaned and abandoned children. Including excerpts from the oratorio Solomon (1748), this programme features music drawn from Handel’s first concert for the Foundling Hospital. Handel’s association with the hospital was a fruitful one. He raised over £2.5 million in today’s equivalent currency, for the Foundling Hospital which later became the Coram Foundation.

While the concert will be free to view, it isn’t free to produce. Viewers are encouraged to follow in the spirit of the original event and donate generously as they are able.