Handel - Theodora "New scenes of joy" Anne Sofie von Otter. George Frideric Handel "New Scenes of Joy" Theodora, HWV 68 Irene's aria from act III, sc.3 Libretto by Thomas Morell opera.stanford.edu/iu …More
Handel - Theodora "New scenes of joy" Anne Sofie von Otter.
George Frideric Handel "New Scenes of Joy" Theodora, HWV 68 Irene's aria from act III, sc.3 Libretto by Thomas Morell opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/theodora.htm In this recording: Anne Sofie von Otter Orchestre et Choeur du Concert d'Astrée Emmanuelle Haim (conductor) Live performance, 19 October 2006, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris www.operatoday.com/…/handel_theodora… Geraldine McGreevy: Theodora Anne Sofie von Otter: Irene Stephen Wallace: Dydimus Paul Agnew: Septimius Matthew Rose: Valens Orchestre et choeur du Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (dir.) From wikipedia (in part): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(Handel) "Theodora, HWV 68, is an oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Flavia Maximiana Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus. Handel wrote Theodora during his last period of composition. He was sixty-four years old when he began working on it in June 1749. He had written the oratorios Solomon and Susanna the previous year. Theodora would be his second-to-last oratorio. ... Theodora differs from the former two oratorios because it is a tragedy, ending in the death of the heroine and her converted lover. The music is much more direct than the earlier works, transcending the mediocrity of the libretto (which was true for several of Handel's works) so that the characters and the drama are well-defined. ... Handel finished the oratorio on 31 July 1749, and its premiere was on 16 March 1750. Pityingly, Theodora was a failure and only played three times. There are at least two explanations for this. First, the theme of persecution may have been too "progressive" for Londoners at the time. Secondly,an earthquake that transpired about a week before the premiere had prevented some of the city's nobility from coming. It was the least performed of all his oratorios, being revived only once in 1755. ... The oratorio has a good variety of arias and choruses. Most of the solo pieces are da capo arias. There are three duets, the last being a sublime piece in which Theodora and Didymus die. The orchestration is simple, as in most of Handel's later works. Handel uses trumpets, horns, and drums in the Roman scenes and flutes are in the prison scene, but some arias are very lightly accompanied which raises them far above the text. The oratorio is scored for 2 sections of violins, violas, cellos, double basses, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, harpsichord, and organ. A harpsichord and violoncello play the continuo." Recitative: She's gone, disdaining liberty and life, And ev'ry honour this frail life can give. Devotion bids aspire to nobler things, To boundless love, and joys ineffable: And such her expectation from kind Heav'n. Air: New scenes of joy come crowding on while sorrow fleets away, like mists before the rising sun that gives a glorious day.
George Frideric Handel "New Scenes of Joy" Theodora, HWV 68 Irene's aria from act III, sc.3 Libretto by Thomas Morell opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/theodora.htm In this recording: Anne Sofie von Otter Orchestre et Choeur du Concert d'Astrée Emmanuelle Haim (conductor) Live performance, 19 October 2006, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris www.operatoday.com/…/handel_theodora… Geraldine McGreevy: Theodora Anne Sofie von Otter: Irene Stephen Wallace: Dydimus Paul Agnew: Septimius Matthew Rose: Valens Orchestre et choeur du Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (dir.) From wikipedia (in part): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(Handel) "Theodora, HWV 68, is an oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Flavia Maximiana Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus. Handel wrote Theodora during his last period of composition. He was sixty-four years old when he began working on it in June 1749. He had written the oratorios Solomon and Susanna the previous year. Theodora would be his second-to-last oratorio. ... Theodora differs from the former two oratorios because it is a tragedy, ending in the death of the heroine and her converted lover. The music is much more direct than the earlier works, transcending the mediocrity of the libretto (which was true for several of Handel's works) so that the characters and the drama are well-defined. ... Handel finished the oratorio on 31 July 1749, and its premiere was on 16 March 1750. Pityingly, Theodora was a failure and only played three times. There are at least two explanations for this. First, the theme of persecution may have been too "progressive" for Londoners at the time. Secondly,an earthquake that transpired about a week before the premiere had prevented some of the city's nobility from coming. It was the least performed of all his oratorios, being revived only once in 1755. ... The oratorio has a good variety of arias and choruses. Most of the solo pieces are da capo arias. There are three duets, the last being a sublime piece in which Theodora and Didymus die. The orchestration is simple, as in most of Handel's later works. Handel uses trumpets, horns, and drums in the Roman scenes and flutes are in the prison scene, but some arias are very lightly accompanied which raises them far above the text. The oratorio is scored for 2 sections of violins, violas, cellos, double basses, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, harpsichord, and organ. A harpsichord and violoncello play the continuo." Recitative: She's gone, disdaining liberty and life, And ev'ry honour this frail life can give. Devotion bids aspire to nobler things, To boundless love, and joys ineffable: And such her expectation from kind Heav'n. Air: New scenes of joy come crowding on while sorrow fleets away, like mists before the rising sun that gives a glorious day.