Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Michael Spyres, John Chest
Conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Erato
Catalogue: 5419717791
Release: 2022
Size: 3.28 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Theodora, HWV 68
01. Overture
02. Trio
03. Courante
Part 1
04. Scene 1: Recitative. “Tis Diocletian’s Natal Day” (Valens)
05. Scene 1: Air. “Go, My Faithful Soldier, Go” (Valens)
06. Scene 1: Chorus. “And Draw a Blessing Down” (The Heathens)
07. Scene 1: Recitative. “Vouchsafe, Dread Sir” (Didymus, Valens)
08. Scene 1: Air. “Racks, Gibbets, Sword and Fire” (Valens)
09. Scene 1: Chorus. “For Ever Thus Stands Fix’d the Doom” (The Heathens)
10. Scene 2: Recitative. “Most Cruel Edict” (Didymus, Septimius)
11. Scene 2: Air. “The Raptur’d Soul” (Didymus)
12. Scene 2: Recitative. “I Know Thy Virtues” (Septimius)
13. Scene 2: Air. “Descend, Kind Pity, Heav’nly Guest” (Septimius)
14. Scene 3: Recitative. “Though Hard, My Friends” (Theodora)
15. Scene 3: Air. “Fond, Flatt’ring World, Adieu” (Theodora)
16. Scene 3: Recitative. “O Bright Example of All Goodness” (Irene)
17. Scene 3: Air. “Bane of Virtue” (Irene)
18. Scene 3: Chorus. “Come, Mighty Father” (The Christians)
19. Scene 4: Recitative. “Fly, Fly, My Brethren” (Messenger, Irene)
20. Scene 4: Air. “As with Rosy Steps the Morn” (Irene)
21. Scene 4: Chorus. “All Pow’r in Heav’n Above” (The Christians)
22. Scene 5: Recitative. “Mistaken Wretches!” (Septimius)
23. Scene 5: Air. “Dread the Fruits of Christian Folly” (Septimius)
24. Scene 5: Recitative. “Deluded Mortal!” (Theodora, Septimius)
25. Scene 5: Accompagnato. “Oh, Worse Than Death Indeed” (Theodora)
26. Scene 5: Air. “Angels, Ever Bright and Fair” (Theodora)
27. Scene 6: Recitative. “Unhappy, Happy Crew!” (Didymus, Irene)
28. Scene 6: Air. “Kind Heav’n, If Virtue Be Thy Care” (Didymus)
29. Scene 6: Recitative. “O Love, How Great Thy Pow’r!” (Irene)
30. Scene 6: Chorus. “Go, Gen’rous, Pious Youth” (The Christians)
Part 2
31. Scene 1: Recitative. “Ye Men of Antioch” (Valens)
32. Scene 1: Chorus. “Queen of Summer, Queen of Love” (The Heathens)
33. Scene 1: Air. “Wide Spread His Name” (Valens)
34. Scene 1: Recitative. “Return, Septimius, to the Stubborn Maid” (Valens)
35. Scene 1: Chorus. “Venus, Laughing from the Skies” (The Heathens)
36. Scene 2: Symphony
37. Scene 2: Recitative. “O Thou Bright Sun” (Theodora)
38. Scene 2: Air. “With Darkness Deep, as is My Woe” (Theodora)
39. Scene 2: Air
40. Scene 2: Recitative. “But Why Art Thou Disquieted, My Soul” (Theodora)
41. Scene 2: Air. “Oh That I on Wings Could Rise” (Theodora)
42. Scene 3: Recitative. “Long Have I Known” (Didymus, Septimius)
43. Scene 3: Air. “Though the Honours” (Septimius)
44. Scene 3: Recitative. “Oh, Save Her Then” (Didymus, Septimius)
45. Scene 3: Air. “Deeds of Kindness to Display” (Didymus)
46. Scene 4: Recitative. “The Clouds Begin to Veil” (Irene)
47. Scene 4: Air. “Defend Her, Heav’n!” (Irene)
48. Scene 5: Recitative. “Or Lull’d With Grief” (Didymus)
49. Scene 5: Air. “Sweet Rose and Lily” (Didymus)
50. Scene 5: Recitative. “Oh, Save Me, Heav’n” (Theodora, Didymus)
51. Scene 5: Air. “The Pilgrim’s Home” (Theodora)
52. Scene 5: Accompagnato. “Forbid It, Heav’n!” (Didymus)
53. Scene 5: Recitative. “Or Say, What Right Have I to Take” (Didymus, Theodora)
54. Scene 5: Duet. “To Thee, Thou Glorious Son of Worth” (Theodora, Didymus)
55. Scene 6: Recitative. “’Tis Night” (Irene)
56. Scene 6: Chorus. “He Saw the Lovely Youth” (The Heathens)
Part 3
57. Scene 1: Air. “Lord, to Thee Each Night and Day” (Irene)
58. Scene 2: Recitative. “But See, the Good, the Virtuous Didymus” (Irene, Theodora)
59. Scene 2: Air. “When Sunk in Anguish and Despair” (Theodora)
60. Scene 2: Theodora and Chorus. “Blest Be the Hand, and Blest the Pow’r” (Theodora, The Christians)
61. Scene 3: Recitative. “Undaunted in the Court” (Messenger, Irene)
62. Scene 3: Accompagnato. “O My Irene” (Theodora)
63. Scene 3: Recitative. “Stay Me Not, Dear Friend” (Theodora)
64. Scene 3: Duet. “Whither, Princess, Do You Fly” (Irene, Theodora)
65. Scene 3: Recitative. “She’s Gone” (Irene)
66. Scene 3: Air. “New Scenes of Joy Come Crowding on” (Irene)
67. Scene 4: Recitative. “Is It a Christian Virtue” (Valens, Didymus, Theodora, Septimius)
68. Scene 5: Recitative. “Be That My Doom” (Theodora, Septimius)
69. Scene 5: Air. “From Virtue Springs Each Gen’rous Deed” (Septimius)
70. Scene 5: Air. “Cease, Ye Slaves, Your Fruitless Pray’r” (Valens)
71. Scene 5: Recitative. “’Tis Kind, My Friends” (Didymus, Theodora)
72. Scene 5: Chorus. “How Strange Their Ends, Yet How Glorious” (The Heathens)
73. Scene 5: Recitative. “On Me Your Frowns” (Didymus, Theodora, Valens)
74. Scene 5: Air. “Ye Ministers of Justice” (Valens)
75. Scene 6: Recitative. “And Must Such Beauty Suffer?” (Didymus, Theodora, Septimius)
76. Scene 6: Air and Duet. “Streams of Pleasure Ever Flowing” (Didymus, Theodora)
77. Scene 7: Recitative. “Ere This, Their Doom is Past” (Irene)
78. Scene 7: Chorus. “O Love Divine” (The Christians)
Studio recordings of opera and oratorio are not so common these days, and the Erato label took a chance with this one, bringing in big-name singers, recording during the COVID-19 pandemic with all its threats of disruptions, and backing a major tour to go with it. As it happens, the gamble paid off as the album rose onto classical best-seller charts in the fall of 2022. It is superb. Despite its initial failure (probably London audiences weren’t familiar with the story of the titular martyr), the oratorio Theodora, HWV 68, has come to be recognized as one of Handel’s late masterpieces, and it was one of the composer’s favorites among his works. Even more than Handel’s other oratorios, this one has operatic qualities and, in fact, has been staged as an opera; there are long stretches where the chorus is silent. It stands or falls on the singers, although the small chorus of the historical-instrument group Il Pomo d’Oro is very fine here, with excellent renderings of the double pagans-and-Christian roles of the chorus. They are a remarkable group. The star is mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Theodora’s friend Irene, and she is surrounded by, and nicely counterpointed to, younger singers who are just hitting their strides. Soprano Lisette Oropesa is a standout. She is known for 19th century roles rather than Handel, but her judicious and beautifully controlled application of vibrato, and her presence in general, are arresting. Theodora’s partner in Christian crime, Didymus, is the little-heralded but smooth countertenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian and tenor Michael Spyres as the friend of the hard man Septimus is also very strong, as is the appropriately named John Chest as Valens. Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev keeps the energy level high through three hours of action, contributes an unusually active harpsichord continuo, and draws especially crisp performances from Il Pomo d’Oro. A standout Handel oratorio recording.