Handel: Theodora, HWV 68

Glyndebourne: GFOCD01496

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Label:

Glyndebourne

Catalogue No:

GFOCD01496

Discs:

Release date:

30th April 2012

Barcode:

0878280000146

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Handel: Theodora, HWV 68

Frode Olsen (Valens), David Daniels (Didymus), Richard Croft (Septimius), Dawn Upshaw (Theodora), Lorraine Hunt (Irene), Michael Hart-Davis (Messenger) & William Christie (conductor, continuo)

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & The Glyndebourne Chorus

CD - 3 discs

$32.75

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Here for the first time on CD is Glyndebourne’s acclaimed 1996 production of Handel’s oratorio Theodora. Although Theodora is a story of a virtuous woman and sexual persecution, this has not proved to be an obstacle to its enduring success, the subject a deeply touching one, resonating from the age of antiquity to the present day.

The recording is the debut on the Glyndebourne label for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, one of Glyndebourne’s two resident orchestras.

This audio release, in no way detracting from the extraordinary Peter Sellar’s production, allows the focus to be on the soloists, conductor and orchestra. This recording confirms Lorraine Hunt as a true Handelian, capturing the spirit of Irene as few others could. In counter-tenor David Daniels as Didymus, there is a breadth of range drawing the listener away from the oft strained and forced falsetto sound.

From the outset Dawn Upshaw is a heartfelt Theodora culminating magnificently in her final duet with Daniels ‘Thither let our hearts aspire…’ the delivery, sensitivity and ensemble nothing short of numbing. There is no better choice of debut release from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on the Glyndebourne label, William Christie’s musical approach one of transcendence, making the most of this wonderful music.

Great opera performances are often fleeting moments in time but since 1960, every note of every Glyndebourne Festival performance has been recorded. ‘Eaves-dropping’ on these live performances allows some of the most seminal opera performances of the last fifty years to be enjoyed by all.

Handel: Theodora, HWV 68

play Part 1 - 01 - Overture

play Part 1 Scene 1 - 02 - Recitative: ??Tis Dioclesian?s natal day?

play Part 1 Scene 1 - 03 - Air: ?Go, my faithful soldier, go?

play Part 1 Scene 1 - 04 - Chorus: ?And draw a blessing down?

play Part 1 Scene 1 - 05 - Recitative: ?Vouchsafe, dread Sir?

play Part 1 Scene 1 - 06 - Air: ?Racks, gibbets, sword or fire?

play Part 1 Scene 1 - 07 - Chorus: ?Forever thus stands fix?d?

play Part 1 Scene 2 - 08 - Recitative: ?Most cruel edict?

play Part 1 Scene 2 - 09 - Air: ?The raptur?d soul?

play Part 1 Scene 2 - 10 - Recitative: ?I know thy virtues?

play Part 1 Scene 2 - 11 - Air: ?Descend, kind pity?

play Part 1 Scene 3 - 12 - Recitative: ?Tho? hard, my friends?

play Part 1 Scene 3 - 13 - Air: ?Fond, flatt?ring world, adieu?

play Part 1 Scene 3 - 14 - Recitative: ?O bright example?

play Part 1 Scene 3 - 15 - Air: ?Bane of virtue?

play Part 1 Scene 3 - 16 - Chorus: ?Come, mighty Father?

play Part 1 Scene 4 - 17 - Recitative: ?Fly, fly, my brethren?

play Part 1 Scene 4 - 18 - Air: ?As with rosy steps the morn?

play Part 1 Scene 4 - 19 - Chorus: ?All pow?r in heav?n?

play Part 1 Scene 5 - 20 - Recitative: ?Mistaken wretches?

play Part 1 Scene 5 - 21 - Air: ?Dread the fruits of Christian folly?

play Part 1 Scene 5 - 22 - Recitative: ?Deluded mortals?

play Part 1 Scene 5 - 23 - Recitative: ?O worse than death indeed?

play Part 1 Scene 5 - 24 - Air: ?Angels, ever bright and fair?

play Part 1 Scene 6 - 01 - Recitative: ?Unhappy, happy crew?

play Part 1 Scene 6 - 02 - Air: ?Kind Heav?n, if virtue be thy care?

play Part 1 Scene 7 - 03 - Recitative: ?O love, how great thy pow?r?

play Part 1 Scene 7 - 04 - Chorus: ?Go, gen?rous pious youth?

play Part 2 Scene 1 - 05 - Recitative: ?Ye men of Antioch?

play Part 2 Scene 1 - 06 - Chorus: ?Queen of Summer?

play Part 2 Scene 1 - 07 - Air: ?Wide spread his name?

play Part 2 Scene 1 - 08 - Recitative: ?Return, Septimius?

play Part 2 Scene 1 - 09 - Chorus: ?Venus laughing from the skies

play Part 2 Scene 1 - 10 - Symphony

play Part 2 Scene 2 - 11 - Recitative: ?Oh thou bright Sun?

play Part 2 Scene 2 - 12 - Air: ?With darkness deep?

play Part 2 Scene 2 - 13 - Symphony

play Part 2 Scene 2 - 14 - Recitative: ?But why art thou disquieted?

play Part 2 Scene 2 - 15 - Air: ?Oh, that I on wings could rise?

play Part 2 Scene 3 - 16 - Recitative: ?Long have I known?

play Part 2 Scene 3 - 17 - Air: ?Tho? the honours that Flora?

play Part 2 Scene 3 - 18 - Recitative: ?O, save her then?

play Part 2 Scene 3 - 19 - Air: ?Deeds of kindness to display?

play Part 2 Scene 4 - 20 - Recitative: ?The clouds begin to veil?

play Part 2 Scene 4 - 21 - Air: ?Defend her Heav?n?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 22 - Recitative: ?Or lull?d with grief?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 23 - Air: ?Sweet rose and lily?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 24 - Recitative: ?O, save me, Heav?n?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 25 - Air: ?The pilgrim?s home?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 26 - Recitative: ?Forbid it, Heav?n!?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 27 - Recitative: ?Ah, what is liberty?

play Part 2 Scene 5 - 28 - Duet: ?To thee, thou glorious son of worth?

play Part 2 Scene 6 - 29 - Recitative: ? ?Tis night?

play Part 2 Scene 6 - 30 - Chorus: ?He saw the lovely youth?

play Part 3 Scene 1 - 01 - Air: ?Lord, to thee each night and day?

play Part 3 Scene 2 - 02 - Recitative: ?But see, the good, the virtuous?

play Part 3 Scene 2 - 03 - Air: ?When sunk in anguish and despair?

play Part 3 Scene 2 - 04 - Recitative: ?Blessed be the pow?r?

play Part 3 Scene 2 - 05 - Chorus: ?Blessing, honour, adoration?, ?Blest be the hand?

play Part 3 Scene 3 - 06 - Recitative: ?Undaunted in the court?

play Part 3 Scene 3 - 07 - Recitative: ?O my Irene, Heav?n is kind?

play Part 3 Scene 3 - 08 - Duet: ?Whither, Princess, do you fly?

play Part 3 Scene 3 - 09 - Recitative: ?She?s gone, disdaining liberty and life?

play Part 3 Scene 3 - 10 - Air: ?New scenes of joy come crowding on?

play Part 3 Scene 4 - 11 - Recitative: ?Is it a Christian virtue then?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 12 - Recitative: ?Be that my doom?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 13 - Air: ?From virtue springs each gen?rous deed?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 14 - Air: ?Cease ye slaves, your fruitless pray?r?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 15 - Recitative: ??Tis kind, my friends?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 16 - Air: ?Lost in anguish?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 17 - Chorus: ?How strange their ends?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 18 - Recitative: ?On me your frowns?

play Part 3 Scene 5 - 19 - Air: ?Ye ministers of justice?

play Part 3 Scene 6 - 20 - Recitative: ?And must such beauty suffer?

play Part 3 Scene 6 - 21 - Air and Duet: ?Streams of pleasure ever flowing?, ?Thither let our hearts aspire?

play Part 3 Scene 7 - 22 - Recitative: ?Ere this, their doom is past?

play Part 3 Scene 7 - 23 - Chorus: ?O, love divine?

4th April 2012 ****	“Those who saw Peter Sellars' production of Theodora with its original American cast or any of its revivals is unlikely to forget the experience...Anyone wanting a library version of the oratorio would be better considering one of the studio-made recordings, but as a memento of one of Glyndebourne's finest shows of recent times, it's matchless.”
July 2012	“The special qualities remain intact without the visual dramatic elements...Avid Handelians must own this just for Lorraine Hunt's singing of 'As with rosy steps', which abounds in integrity and humanity...David Daniels has never made a better studio recording than his nobly courageous Didymus...The OAE's playing is routinely marvellous; Christie's pacing and characterisation of Handel's music are satisfyingly lyrical.”
July 2012 ****	“something very special is audible here: though slow to ignite in all but Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's transcendent Irene, there is a sense of collective devotion as electric as any Bach Passion...American accent to the fore, Upshaw tears up the Baroque style-manual. It's gushy, sometimes croony, a hair's breadth from broadway, but it is deeply felt and deeply moving.”
The Arts Desk 30th June 2012	“start listening and you’re hooked within minutes...The small cast are consistently impressive...Christie conducts with plenty of bounce and joie de vivre, though never unplaying the score’s occasional reflective moments...All indecently enjoyable for a tragedy.”
June 2012	“[Hunt and Daniels] have such richness and evenness of tone coupled with a vivid sense of the dramatic and their two voices remain utterly distinctive in character. The chorus is superb: young and flexible-sounding; Christie directs a nuanced yet direct account”