Jephta

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With his oratorio Jephta, Handel, in top form, created a fascinating late work. It required relatively large amounts of time and energy to complete, owing to his progressive blindness. But complete it he did in 1751, a year before losing his sight completely. The biblical basis for the judge Jephta, who unsuspectingly committed himself to murdering his daughter with a divine oath, gets a happy ending from Handel’s librettist, Thomas Morell: an angel intervenes and prevents the sacrifice. With this work, Handel brought the genre of the English-language oratorio, which he had himself created, to its ultimate apotheosis: the brilliant choruses and arias that radiate emotion, enriched by recitatives that reflect upon or drive the plot forward, are deeply affecting. This interpretation of the work is by Les Talens Lyriques under the direction of Christophe Rousset.

Following the performance, Christophe Rousset will receive this year’s City of Halle Handel Prize for his services to the conservation of Handel’s legacy.