Composer: Georg Friedrich Händel
Performer: Arcangelo, Louise Alder, Tim Mead, Anna Stéphany, Stuart Jackson, Adam Plachetka
Conductor: Jonathan Cohen
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA1025
Release: 2024
Size: 3.28 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Theodora, HWV 68
CD 01
Overture
01. Grave – Allegro
02. Trio
03. Courante
Part I
04. Recitative. ’Tis Dioclesian’s Natal Day
05. Air. Go, My Faithful Soldier
06. Chorus. And Draw A Blessing Down
07. Recitative. Vouchsafe, Dread Sir
08. Air. Racks, Gibbets, Sword, & Fire
09. Chorus. For Ever Thus Stands Fix’d The Doom
10. Recitative. Most Cruel Edict!
11. Air. The Raptur’d Soul Defies The Sword
12. Recitative. I Know Thy Virtues
13. Air’ Descend, Kind Pity, Heav’nly Guest
14. Recitative. Tho’ Hard, My Friends
15. Air. Fond, Flatt’ring World, Adieu!
16. Recitative. O Bright Example Of All Goodness!
17. Air. Bane Of Virtue, Nurse Of Passions
18. Chorus. Come, Mighty Father, Mighty Lord
19. Recitative. Fly, Fly, My Brethren
20. Air. As With Rosy Steps The Morn Advancing
21. Chorus. All Pow’r In Heav’n Above
22. Recitative. Mistaken Wretches!
23. Air. Dread The Fruits Of Christian Folly
24. Recitative. Deluded Mortal!
25. Recitative, Accompany’d ‘O Worse Than Death Indeed!
26. Air. Angels, Ever Bright, & Fair
27. Recitative. Unhappy Happy Crew!
28. Air. Kind Heav’n, If Virtue Be Thy Care
29. Recitative. O Love! How Great Thy Pow’r!
30. Chorus. Go, Gen’rous, Pious Youth
CD 02
Part II
01. Recitative. Ye Men Of Antioch
02. Chorus. Queen Of Summer, Queen Of Love
03. Air. Wide Spread His Name
04. Recitative. Return, Septimius, To The Stubborn Maid
05. Chorus. Venus Laughing From The Skies
06. Sinfonia
07. Recitative. O Thou Bright Sun!
08. Air. With Darkness Deep As Is My Woe
09. Symphony Of Soft Musick
10. Recitative. But Why Art Thou Disquieted, My Soul?
11. Air. O That I On Wings Cou’d Rise
12. Recitative. Long Have I Known Thy Friendly Social Soul
13. Air. Tho’ The Honours
14. Recitative. O Save Her Then, Or Give Me Pow’r To Save
15. Air. Deeds Of Kindness To Display
16. Recitative. The Clouds Begin To Veil The Hemisphere
17. Air. Defend Her, Heav’n
18. Recitative. Or Lull’d With Grief
19. Air. Sweet Rose, & Lily
20. Recitative. O Save Me, Heav’n
21. Air. The Pilgrim’s Home
22. Recitative, Accompany’d ‘Forbid It, Heav’n!
23. Recitative. Or Say, What Right Have I
24. Duet. To Thee, Thou Glorious Son Of Worth
25. Recitative. ’Tis Night
26. Chorus. He Saw The Lovely Youth
CD 03
Part III
01. Air. Lord To Thee, Each Night, & Day
02. Recitative. But See, The Good, The Virtuous Didymus!
03. Air. When Sunk In Anguish, & Despair
04. Chorus. Blest Be The Hand
05. Recitative. Undaunted In The Court Stands Didymus
06. Recitative, Accompany’d ‘O My Irene, Heav’n Is Kind
07. Recitative. Stay Me Not, Dear Friend
08. Duet. Whither, Princess, Do You Fly
09. Recitative. She’s Gone, Disdaining Liberty & Life
10. Air. New Scenes Of Joy Come Crowding On
11. Recitative. Is It A Christian Virtue Then
12. Recitative. Be That My Doom
13. Air. From Virtue Springs Each Generous Deed
14. Air. Cease, Ye Slaves, Your Fruitless Pray’r
15. Recitative. ’Tis Kind, My Friends
16. Chorus. How Strange Their Ends
17. Recitative. On Me Your Frowns
18. Air. Ye Ministers Of Justice
19. Recitative. And Must Such Beauty Suffer!
20. Air. Streams Of Pleasure Ever Flowing’ / Duet. Thither Let Our Hearts Aspire
21. Recitative. Ere This Their Doom Is Past
22. Chorus. O Love Divine, Thou Source Of Fame
Among Handel’s seventeen English oratorios, Theodora (1750) is unique. The story is not taken from the Bible, it is set in the Christian era, there is no national triumph and it does not end in joy. At the end, the hero and heroine are dead, the community with which the audience identifies is in mortal danger, and the final chorus is in a minor key. As a musical drama, it is the direct ancestor of Dialogues des Carmelites. At the age of 65, Handel produced a work that was too radical and complex for most of his audience. Today, Theodora is regarded as a benchmark “thinking person’s opera”, both deeply stimulating and powerfully moving.