Rezurrection Recordz Releases El Mesías, The New Spanish-Language Adaptation Of Handel’s Messiah From Bach Collegium San Diego And Ruben Valenzuela

REZURRECTION RECORDZ RELEASES EL MESÍAS, THE NEW SPANISH-LANGUAGE ADAPTATION OF HANDEL’S MESSIAH FROM BACH COLLEGIUM SAN DIEGO LED BY ITS FOUNDER AND CONDUCTOR RUBEN VALENZUELA

“Ruben Valenzuela leads with contagious exuberance.” 
– Times of San Diego

"Founder and artistic director Ruben Valenzuela assembled an extraordinary ensemble of instrumentalists and singers who gave a gleaming, juicy performance of music now 320 years old, making it sound as fresh and alive as yesterday."
– San Diego Union-Tribune

NEW YORK, NY–On December 11, 2026, Rezurrection Recordz releases El Mesías [REZC-0131], a Spanish-language adaptation of Handel’s Messiah—with a libretto by Tijuana, Mexico-based artistic director and educator Mario Montenegro—that is believed to be the first complete recording of the work in Spanish. The brainchild of American conductor Ruben Valenzuela, who leads his own Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD) on the recording, El Mesías also features soprano Estelí Gomez, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte, countertenor Jay Carter, tenor Jacob Perry, and bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca as soloists, along with a period-instrument orchestra. El Mesías is available in three formats: digital; double CD; and on a 4-LP limited set, which can be pre-ordered here: https://www.rezrecordz.com/el-mesias

Like any practical musician of his time, Handel was a realist in terms of performance practice. From the beginning, performances of Messiah were treated flexibly depending on the singers available, the venue, and other factors. Subsequent generations followed suit: C.P.E. Bach presented a German-language version in Hamburg in 1775, and Mozart famously made his own German-language version— reorchestrated in many places with extended wind parts—to perform in Vienna in 1789. Conductor Ruben Valenzuela has been leading performances of Messiah with his Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD) since 2014, and because there exist ten or twelve viable versions of the work, they committed to performing a different version each year to keep their interpretation fresh. In that same spirit, and encouraged both by BCSD's geographical proximity to the Mexican border and the prevalence of Spanish in their own Southern California community, Valenzuela proposed the idea of performing the work in that language, as he says in the liner notes: “both as a gift to those for whom Spanish is a native language, and as an occasion to rediscover this iconic oratorio in a new light and perspective.”

Though Valenzuela had heard various parts of the oratorio sung in Spanish as a child growing up in a Spanish-speaking church community, the text had always been cobbled together and overlaid on the English; a complete Spanish text with its own inner beauty and logic that was also tailored to work with the music did not yet exist. The solution to that problem was found when in early 2020 they contacted researcher, educator, and cultural arts professional Mario Montenegro, the founder and artistic director of Ópera Explícita and director of production for Ópera de Tijuana, who had more than 30 years’ experience translating and adapting opera libretti. As Montenegro describes the task: “We had to make very strong decisions, because we don’t need a translation. There is already a translation in any Bible you can read in Spanish or any other language. It wasn’t about translation. It was about creating a libretto that fits into music that has already been written. … It feels natural and that’s something that I was looking for—it has to be like that.”

When a working edition of the complete oratorio had been assembled, BCSD premiered El Mesías in 2022, with California performances in La Jolla and Encinitas, followed by a Tijuana performance that attracted an audience of more than 600 people. BCSD performed it again in 2023 and made the present recording in November 2025 for release on Bright Shiny Things’ traditional classical imprint Rezurrection Recordz.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Bach Collegium San Diego was founded by Artistic Director Ruben Valenzuela in 2003 to bring dynamic programming and performances with historical considerations to performance practice. Over the last 20 seasons, BCSD has garnered national and international recognition through its exemplary talent, making it one of the most distinguished early music ensembles in the country today. In 2021, the ensemble gained national attention through its El Mesías project, which commissioned an original Spanish libretto of Handel’s oratorio. BCSD made its European debut at the Paulinum during Bachfest Leipzig 2024 and performed at historic sites throughout Thuringia, Germany. The ensemble is exploring touring El Mesías in the Americas and abroad, with plans to return to Bachfest Leipzig in 2027.

Ruben Valenzuela is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD). As a conductor and keyboardist he has led BCSD in notable performances of music of the Renaissance, early and high Baroque, and early Classical periods, as well as music of the twentieth century. Valenzuela's performances have been described as “dramatic” and “vibrant” and “able to unlock the true power of Baroque music” (SanDiegoStory.com). Under Valenzuela’s leadership, BCSD has achieved international acclaim through virtuosic performances of iconic repertoire, in addition to lesser-known works. Valenzuela and BCSD were the recipients of Early Music America's 2023 Laurette Goldberg Award for achievement in early music engagement. Additionally, Valenzuela was awarded the 2020 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal by Chorus America. ?

With BCSD he has toured to the Festival Internacional del Órgano Barroco in Mexico City, and to the Festival Internacional de Música Renacentista y Barroca Misiones de Chiquito in Bolivia. Recently, he led BCSD and the Pauliner Barockensemble in a noteworthy performance at Bachfest 2024 (Leipzig Germany), with additional performances in Arnstadt and Naumburg. Valenzuela is regularly called upon as a guest director and keyboardist. Notable guest engagements include Handel and Haydn Society, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, New York City, Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium at Boston University, Bach at Emmanuel Church, Boston, Juilliard415 at Lincoln Center, New York City, Washington Bach Consort, Westminster Choir College with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Seraphic Fire. Upcoming engagements include the Academia de Música Antigua (UNAM) in Mexico City, San Francisco Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project.

Valenzuela holds a PhD in Musicology from Claremont Graduate University.?