Händel’s Messiah was target of latest blitz by climate activists in Italy.

Climate activists on Thursday evening interrupted a performance of Händel’s Messiah in Rome in the latest of a series of protests in cities across Italy this year.

The activists from the Ultima Generazione group targeted a Christmas concert by the prestigious Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, waiting for the famous Hallelujah Chorus before bursting onto the stage.

The activists - three on stage and one filming - reportedly entered the Auditorium Parco della Musica with tickets for the concert.

The three activists sat on the stage wearing t-shirts with messages relating to the climate crisis and used zip-ties to attach themselves to the podium of conductor John Nelson.

During their protest, the choristers continued to sing and the orchestra continued to play until the end of the act, while the activists were met with boos and some applause from the audience before being taken away by police.

"We interrupted this concert to ask you to stop and really observe. We must all reflect on the absurdity of continuing our daily lives in the face of wars, inequality and disasters caused by the eco-climatic emergency" - reads the Ultima Generation Instagram profile - "We ask the public to take courage and look at the current emergency. To take responsibility all together against yet another government that is indifferent to the problems of the people."

The stunt was the latest in a string of similar protests in Rome, Florence and Venice, where climate activists have glued their hands to artworks, sprayed mud on landmarks, dyed the waters of historic fountains black and staged roadblocks.