New Sky Arts documentary uncovers the scandal behind Handel's Messiah

A new documentary on free-to-air channel Sky Arts looks at the controversial genesis of George Frideric Handel's Messiah and its connection to English actress and singer Susannah Cibber.

Presented by Olivier Award-winning soprano Danielle de Niese, The Handel Scandal revisits the sell-out premiere of Messiah in Dublin on 13 April 1742. Among the performers that night was Cibber, a talented but infamous West End star. She was singing in front of an audience for the first time since going into hiding with her lover and illegitimate child after a sordid sex scandal had made headlines and shocked the public. Contemporary reports suggest that, despite the controversy, she brought the house down, pouring her soul into the music Handel had written for her.

The 44-minute film reveals how Cibber helped the elderly and widely respected Handel put Messiah on the map, restoring her reputation and putting her back in the spotlight in the process. De Niese dives into the music with Peter Whelan and members of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, working through the arias and recitatives that Handel transposed for Cibber's voice once he had persuaded her to sing at the world premiere.

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^{Danielle de Niese performs excerpts from Messiah alongside Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra}

Produced by Brighton's Factory Films, directed by BAFTA-nominated Lisa Fairbank and executive produced by RTS Award winner Julie Heathcote, it was commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky.

The Handel Scandal airs on Sky Arts at 8pm on Tuesday 27 October 2026. Sky Arts is free-to-air in the UK on Freeview channel 36 and Freesat channel 143 and is also available to Sky TV customers and on the streaming service NOW.

Discover upcoming performances of Handel's Messiah on Continuo Connect and learn more about this enduring work in Ash Khandekar's deep dive, The infinite variety of Handel's 'Messiah'.