Handel Festival 1857

With the chorus of the Society as a nucleus, a choir of upwards of 1,200 picked singers was formed in London, which was supplemented by others from towns in the United Kingdom until the whole numbered 2,000.

The meeting, under the title of "The Great Handel Festival", was held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 15, 17, and 19 June 1857, with a public rehearsal on the preceding Saturday.

[2] This festival established that the Central Transept of the Palace might be made a fitting locality for the Commemoration in 1859, which took place under the same management, on the 20, 22 and 24 June.

The orchestra was augmented to 460, and the chorus to upwards of 2,700 performers; Michael Costa was conductor, and the principal singers included Clara Novello, Sims Reeves, and Giovanni Belletti.

The sonority of the orchestra was increased by the erection in 1862 of a boarded roof covering in the whole space occupied by the performers, and extending 24 feet beyond the front.