“George Frideric Handel’s Theodora, written in the summer of 1749 and premièred on 16 March 1750 at London’s Covent Garden, was the composer’s penultimate “original” oratorio – i.e. not created by recycling earlier written music – with a libretto by the Rev. Thomas Morell. Adapting the story of the early Christian martyrs of Antioch, the work is Handel’s only musical drama with a purely Christian theme. But its première was not well received and it remained an unpopular composition thereafter. W...hile the popularity of other, earlier oratorios (primarily the Messiah) continuously increased, performances of Theodora were greeted by almost empty auditoria as this highly significant work was only performed four times during the composer’s lifetime. At the same time, thanks to Morell, we know that when Handel was asked among company (towards the end of his life) whether – in keeping with general opinion – he considered the Hallelujah chorus of the Messiah his most successful work, he replied that “the final chorus at the end of Act II of Theodora far surpasses it.” In 1750, the failure of the work can scarcely have caused Handel any problems financially: the lack of interest on the part of the London public was a far greater disappointment to him. At the same time, there were exceptions, whose opinion was aptly summarised in a letter written by the Earl of Shaftesbury on the day after the third performance on 23 March 1750: “I cannot finish my letter and forget Theodora. I have heard it three times and I dare declare that it is a composition as perfect, beautiful and well-elaborated as any of Handel’s works. I understand that he spent a considerable time writing it. It is not at all liked in the city, but Mr. Kellaway and other outstanding musicians hold an opinion similar to mine.” The music-loving earl’s belief that Handel had spared no time or strength in completing the work is supported by other sources: in his own manuscripts, Handel regularly indicates the date of starting and finishing the writing of each section of the composition. Initially, he committed the “essence” of the composition to paper, before going through the work once again and filling in the missing parts. This last phase of the task of composition – which, by its nature, was crucial from the point of view of the finished work – lasted two days in the case of the Messiah, while it required no less than two entire weeks when writing Theodora. For me, Theodora is perhaps Handel’s most dramatic composition: a magnum opus for the baroque age of the same rank as the most important works of Purcell, Bach and Rameau. It was an honour for us to present the work in Hungary in November 2004. Our performance this evening forms the musical basis for a stage première planned for the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest in June 2013.” György Vashegyi Presented by: Orfeo Music Foundation
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