Handel’s oratorio Samson tells of the last few moments of the great Israelite warrior, in a dramatic story of his journey from darkness to heavenly light. Opening with Samson blinded and in chains, having lost his strength, it closes with one of Handel’s most famous arias, ‘Let the bright Seraphim’. Composed within a few weeks of Handel’s Messiah and based on Milton’s Samson Agonistes, it became one of Handel’s most successful and popular oratorios. This performance marks the 350th anniversary of Milton’s Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. Harry Bicket directs a stellar cast in this performance of the earliest performing version of 1743 and following Handel’s scholar Donald Burrow’s research, will present this mighty work with the soloists alone performing the choruses.