大象传媒

鈥楾riumph, joy, madness, death, battle, jealousy, rage - what more do you want in a night at the opera?' Barrie Kosky explores not the staged operas but Handel's oratorios. The Bible stories of Handel鈥檚 oratorios were not allowed to be staged in their day, but Kosky believes them to be intensely theatrical, not just because of their pageantry and brilliance but for the composer's ability to plumb the depths of characters in his music and finely describe the human condition. Barrie Kosky reminisces on his production of Saul with Christopher Purves, the gloriously visual word-painting depicting the plagues on Egypt as well as the pageantry of Solomon, the human drama of Jephtha and the spiritually uplifting sound-world of Messiah.

Handel: Extracts from Solomon
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba; Thrice bless'd be the king; From the East unto the West

Handel: Extracts from Saul
How excellent Thy Name, O Lord; Welcome welcome mighty king; David his ten thousand slew; With rage I shall burst; Dead March

Handel: Extracts from Jephtha
Scenes of horror, scenes of woe: How dark O Lord are Thy decrees; Waft her angels

Handel: Extracts from Israel in Egypt
He gave them hailstones; He sent a thick darkness over all the land: He smote all the first-born of Egypt: But the waters overwhelmed their enemies

Handel: Extracts from Messiah
How beautiful are thy feet; Hallelujah Chorus

Produced by Lindsay Pell
Photo credit: Jan Windszus