Peter Schofield's Reviews
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Jephtha, New College Chapel, 8 June 2005. 

As with Verdi's last two operas, Falstaff and Otello, Handel's last two great oratorios, Theodora and Jephtha have a quality which sets them apart from their composer's other works. Although written as oratorios, these works are wholly operatic in plot and in musical form (though with a larger part for the chorus than in the operas). It is possibly only for the Lord Chancellor's ban on the staging of religious subjects that they were never produced in this form in Handel's lifetime. However, both of them have been presented in stage versions in recent years - Peter Sellars production of Theodora was a controversial, though valid, interpretation. Katie Mitchell's staging of Jephtha (originally for WNO but recently completing a run at ENO) set in the twentieth century (opinions differ as to whether the Middle East, the Balkans or the Second World War was intended) was a totally convincing operatic experience. It is an illustration of Handel's genius that the work can withstand such re-setting

Nevertheless, listening to Jephtha as an oratorio is a completely different to experiencing it on the stage. On the stage, the adaptation individualises and personalises the characters and tells the story; the oratorio emphasises the biblical context and the contemplative element. It is the story of a father forced to sacrifice a child as a return for a divine favour - a story that has other operatic manifestations in Idomeneo and Iphigenia. In each case the victim is spared at the last moment by the intervention of the appropriate deity.

This performance, in New College Chapel, was the last by the New Chamber Opera Studio to be conducted by Stephen Rice as Studio Director. Oxford musical life owes him a lot for the work he has done with the Studio. Jephtha can be regarded as the third production in a sequence following Dido and Aeneas and Venus and Adonis that were subjected to the masterclass scrutiny of Professor Gardiner. Jephtha is, of course, far more complex and weightier than the earlier works and presented a real challenge to the Studio, making heavier demands on the soloists. In the event they gave a moving, musical performance which held the audience's attention throughout its long duration. The two leading sopranos were again Kate Semmens, as Iphis, the victim, and Kathryn Whitney as her mother, Storge. Both gave mixed performances. The latter was disappointing in her opening number but sang beautifully in later arias. Semmens also did not sing with her usual consistency but one of the highlights of the evening was her perfectly matched duet, These Labours Past, with the countertenor Matthew Venner as Hamor. Venner and Kirsty Anderson as the Angel (not credited in the programme!) were the outstanding vocal soloists showing how to sing clearly even in the acoustic of the chapel. Mention must also be made of some virtuoso playing by one of the bassoonists.

One sometimes gets the impression that this company does not regard the communication of the text as the highest priority. They would have learned a lot from a fascinating masterclass given by Ian Partridge on 25 June. This formed part of the second Handel in Oxford weekend, presented by the renowned conductor Harry Christophers, with his vocal group, The Sixteen, and orchestra, The Symphony of Harmony and Invention. Oxford is very fortunate that Christophers has chosen it as a venue for the performance of Handel's works. Partridge coached six talented and responsive young singers in arias from Samson and Jephtha, giving insight into the difficulties of singing the diphthongs and consonants of the English language, in order to make the text intelligible to an audience, avoiding traps like 'Come for tea' for 'Comfort ye'.



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