Handel s ever-popular Messiah was recorded live in the superb acoustic of Boston s Symphony Hall, to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Handel and Haydn Society, America s longest-standing performing arts organization. Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and the Handel and Haydn Society gave the first complete performance of the work in the USA in 1818. It has been performed annually in Boston as part of the Handel and Haydn Society concert season every year since 1854.