Handel’s Theodora

Graeme Jenkins, guest conductor

Ava Pine, Theodora; Ryland Angel, Didymus; Richard Croft, Septimius; Jeffrey Snider, Valens; Jennifer Lane, Irene

UNT Baroque Orchestra–Paul Leenhouts, director

Collegium Singers–Richard Sparks, director

A Cappella Choir–Jerry McCoy, director

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. Central

Watch live online at http://recording.music.unt.edu/live

My daughter, Rachelle Moss, a mezzo soprano, performs as a member of the Collegium Singers.

Theodora is an oratorio concerning the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus.  It is a tragedy, ending in the death of the heroine and her converted lover. The music is much more direct than Handel’s earlier works, transcending the mediocrity of the libretto (which was true for several of his works) so that the characters and the drama are well-defined.  Theodora was actually Handel’s favorite of his oratorios. The composer himself ranked the final chorus of Act II, “He saw the lovely youth,” “far beyond” “Hallelujah” in Messiah.