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Handel - Theodora / Christie, Upshaw, Daniels, Glyndebourne Festival OperaRating:
Release Date: 29 June, 2004 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: |
Handel - Theodora / Christie, Upshaw, Daniels, Glyndebourne Festival Opera Reviews
A voice teacher and early music fan
In 1996 at Glyndebourne, radical American director Peter Sellars took "Theodora" which was a tale of a self-sacrificial love between a Christian virgin and a Roman imperial bodyguard in fourth-century Antioch and reset it in modern-day America.Let me begin by saying that closing my eyes and just listening to this DVD of Theodora would have saved the day for me! I don't think that this oratorio lends itself to an opera format nor does the subject matter become easily updated. However, the singing is fabulous both on the part of the soloists as well as the chorus. David Daniels more than does justice to his role and his interpretation of Handel is perfect. Lorraine Hunt is marvelous in her renditions, but isn't she always so!!!!!! However,
the costuming of the Soldiers was comical and the staging dull and lifeless . The singers deserve 10 stars; my three star rating is for the rest of it.
Astounding Theodora
Those who have provided some very negative critiques, based solely on the staging might do well to remember that this English oratorio, performed three or so times during Handel's lifetime, was never intended for staged performance. So, Peter Sellars has created a brilliant analogy with issues that we all currently face. Tolerance in the face of differing beliefs, more than proselytism, seems to fuel Sellar's powerful take on martyrdom. The choreographed gestures, not so dreadfully unrelated to the codified gestures that made up 17th and 18th century theater and oratory technique are riveting. The minimalist set, five Roman tear bottles (human-sized, of course) are wonderfully lit.
On to the singing. Here, we are in the realm of the finest Handel ever committed to recorded form. Dawn Upshaw, in the title role, can seem rather mannered vocally (a bit of Broadway creeps in now and again), but is admirably engaged and moving. David Daniels is beyond any reasonable doubt the finest counter-tenor in the relatively brief history of the art. His breath control is one of the finest of any singer today, and the sheer, silvery beauty of the voice in all of its registers should convert (bad choice of words?) any doubters. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson packs an emotional wallop that will not soon be forgotten. Her incarnation of this early Christian Church leader is amoungst he most fully inhabited performances ever to be seen from an operatic performer. Her voice is astoundingly powerful, yet agile. As certain online critics have rightly said, Richard Croft is beyond wonderful as the non-believing, but righteous, soldier, Septimius. The purity of his voice brings tears to my eyes. His version of "From Virtue Springs" is the finest thing I have ever heard from a Handelian tenor. Dramatically, his intensity is nearly painful. Finally, Frode Olsen makes a dandy basso-villain, and manages tto bring just the right glimmer of menace, with a small touch of humanity shining through.
I do wish that the tracking would follow the pieces in the work. That is a fairly minor complaint, as this is a beautifully filmed production. Highly recommended...
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