Charles Jennens: the man behind Handel’s ’Messiah’

Librettist of some of Handel’s greatest oratorios and one of his keenest patrons, Charles Jennens was also a pioneering Shakespeare editor, the creator of a magnificent Palladian mansion, a generous benefactor and friend, a devout defender of revealed religion, a political outsider, and a complex personality. This film helps shed light on this extraordinary man with interviews with Handel scholar Dr Ruth Smith, conductor Paul McCreesh and singer Roderick Williams.