Page 5 - Resurrezione Coverage Book

Capece 's libretto is firmly in the tradition of the Italian oratorio which by this point was veering close to
opera, so it is a world away from Handel's later English oratorios. Here a group of characters use solo
arias and recitative to talk about dramatic events, which generally happen off stage, yet Handel brings
wonderful freshness to the genre.

Lucy Crowe made a plangent Angel, by turns affecting and joyous, with some killer fioriture. For my
taste Danielle de Niese was perhaps a little too self-consciously sexy as Mary Magdalene, whose role
in this piece is as a witness to Christ's Resurrection rather than as a penitent sinner; she was
musically stylish but felt as if she came from a different production. Lawrence Zazzo made a demure
Mary Cleophas, playing down the cross-dressing element (women singers rarely sang in Italian
oratorio) and provided a finely contrasting foil to Danielle de Niese. Hugo Hymas was an ardent John
the Evangelist whilst Brindley Sherratt had great fun thundering as a very vivid Lucifer. The work was
premiered in 1708 with huge forces (an orchestra of nearly 40 including four oboes). Harry Bickett and
the English Concert fielded rather fewer people than this, but still brought Handel's imaginative music
to life.

I have to confess that the work is not my favourite Handel oratorio, but this performance succeeded
both musically and as a piece of visual television. [Sky Arts]