<<  -- 5 --  Rex Harley    ORATORIO TO OPERA

At all other moments, the staging works to great effect. The fact that the whole thing is set in what appears to be the interior of a bombed hotel somewhere in eastern Europe, in the middle of the twentieth century, doesn't jar at all. The scene changes too, are both convincing and slick to a degree. But at this key moment the setting is suddenly working against the text. The action should take place outside, the only people visible the father and his doomed daughter.

It can't be done, of course; and the fact is that any transformation of oratorio to opera will slip and slide around in some area of the text. The great thing about this production is that it does so only a few times. It is about as faithful as it can be. And that's why I don't really care about the occasional difficulties and minor irritations. The human drama is authentically realised; the characters masterfully drawn; and the production is a vehicle which enables us to hear Handel's music with fresh ears.

Musically, I have to say that the performance was quite thrilling, right from the opening bars of the overture. There are no passengers in this production. Paul McCreesh drives his players hard, and he doesn't indulge his singers either. The soloists themselves are splendidly matched and individually strong. Christopher Purves' Zebul sets the standard with his opening aria and the others take up the challenge. Susan Bickley has some marvellous moments as Storgè not least in her visceral rendering of 'Scenes of horror, scenes of woe'. Mark Padmore's Jephtha runs the gamut of emotions, and is at his finest in the lyrical and tender. Daniel Taylor is seemingly effortless in his singing; he has one of the purest, yet strongest counter-tenor voices you are likely to hear, and he's a subtle actor too. And Sarah Tynan, in her first major role, is a delight, carrying the most complex of phrases with ease and delicacy, and creating a poignantly believable Iphis.

As for the final honours, they really have to go to a certain Mr Handel, whose music sparkles quite as brightly as it did two hundred and fifty years ago.