Time was when this was always Beethoven 9. This year it was Handel’s Theodora with Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo, and as I was in London that day I decided to go.
Theodora is an odd one out among Handel’s oratorios. Rather than a juicy bit of Old Testament smiting, or the assorted scriptures of Messiah, it’s a chunk of early Church martyrology. There are hints of sex and violence to spice things up (though modern scholarship is sceptical about sacred prostitution in the Roman world), but the problem is that the Christians are all faultlessly virtuous and the others very villainous. The exception being Septimius, a pagan who puts in a plea in vain for religious tolerance, pointing out that Christians can be good citizens without venerating the Emperor. Unfortunately in this performance part of his role was cut, so he was demoted to a relatively minor character.
But perhaps it was a good thing that there were cuts, as it was quite punishing standing in the Arena through two halves (there was only one interval) each of well over an hour. I was impressed by the singing and in particular it was good to hear Iestyn Davies for the first time; the chorus also excelled in their various roles. I was near enough to the performers for the acoustic of the Hall not to interfere. But I think I’m never going to warm much to this particular work.
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