Theodora (Handel)

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Work data
Title: Theodora
Theodora and Didymus exchange their clothes in the brothel - historical copper engraving

Theodora and Didymus exchange their clothes in the brothel - historical copper engraving

Shape: Oratorio in three parts
Original language: English
Music: georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto : Thomas Morell
Literary source: Robert Boyle :
The Martyrdom of Theodora and of Didymus
Premiere: March 16, 1750
Place of premiere: Covent Garden Theater
Playing time: about 3 hours
Place and time of the action: Antioch , around 304
people
  • Theodora , Christian of noble origin ( soprano )
  • Didymus , Roman officer, converted by Theodora ( old )
  • Irene, Christian, friend of Theodoras (old)
  • Septimius, Roman officer, friend of Didymus ( tenor )
  • a messenger (tenor)
  • Valens, Roman governor of Antioch ( Bass )
  • Christians, pagans ( choir )

Theodora ( HWV 68) is a dramatic oratorio in three parts by Georg Friedrich Händel from 1750.

action

first act

Valens has a feast day proclaimed in honor of the Roman emperor in Antioch , on which Jupiter is to be sacrificed. He instructs Septimius to punish anyone who opposes with imprisonment or death. Didymus asks him to exclude those whose conscience does not allow them to serve strange gods, but who are nevertheless friends of the emperor. Valens refuses.

Didymus wants to make sure with Septimius that he does not support the persecution because the belief cannot be bent with a death threat. Septimius has understanding and compassion, but cannot oppose an order from the emperor.

Theodora and the Christians renounce the vanities of the world. A messenger appears and reports the persecution by the Romans. Irene expresses her trust in the Lord. Then Septimius appears and accuses the Christians of committing their secret customs and of disregarding the emperor's orders. Theodora replies that they were simply following God's command. But Septimius has her taken to the Temple of Joy, where she has to prostitute herself - a punishment that must be more severe than death for her.

Didymus comes and learns of the events. He asks for courage and strength to save Theodora from shame. Christians want God to help him.

Second act

Valens and the heathen celebrate their festival. Septimius is sent to Theodora to give her one last opportunity to change her mind. If she does this and pays homage to the Roman goddesses until evening, she will be released. Theodora is meanwhile in prison, fearful and yet collected.

Didymus confesses to Septimius that he was converted to Christianity by Theodora and that he loves her. Septimius, who is not proud of his job himself, allows him to visit Theodora in prison.

While Irene and the Christians think about Theodora, Didymus see them in prison to free them. He offers to swap clothes with her and take her place in prison while she escapes. Theodora refuses and instead asks Didymus to redeem her with death. Only when he refuses does she let herself into his plan.

The choir closes the act with the story of Christ's raising of the dead in Nain .

Third act

Theodora comes to the Christian assembly in Didymus' robe. Together they hope for Didymus. A messenger appears and reports Valens' orders to seize the fugitive and kill her. Against Irene's objections, Theodora leaves in the hope of being able to free her savior Didymus.

Didymus justifies himself to Valens. He would not have opposed a death sentence, but he would have opposed the sentence passed by Valens, which would make him hateful to mankind. Valens decrees that he must either show repentance or die.

Theodora appears and offers to die in Didymus' place. Septimius expresses his admiration for her high virtue. Because both Didymus and Theodora offer to die for each other, Valens has them both executed. Confident they go to their deaths.

layout

libretto

The libretto for Theodora was written by Thomas Morell , who had previously produced several texts for Handel. He took the material from The Martyrdom of Theodora and of Didymus , which Robert Boyle had published in London in 1687. It is about a Christian martyr who died in 304 during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian . Another source was the play Thédodore, vierge et martyre , written by Pierre Corneille in 1645. The original text has been sharply criticized by Handel researchers. Winton Dean describes the heroine as "one of the most unbearable virtues in literature".

orchestra

The orchestral line-up of the oratorio includes the following instruments:

Work history

According to the dates entered by Handel in the autograph, he began the composition on June 28, 1749. He finished the first part on July 5, the second on July 11, and the third on July 17. By July 31, he was then able to fill in the middle parts completely.

As usual, Handel used some motifs from works by other composers. So far, sources have been identified: Gottlieb Muffat's Componimenti musicali , Agostino Steffani's operas La lotta d'Hercole con Acheloo and Orlando generoso , duets by Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari and a mass by Antonio Lotti . Handel also announced a new organ concerto for the performance. From the dating of the Concerto in G minor HWV 310 to January 31, 1750, it can be concluded that this concerto was played between the acts.

The cast was sung by the following singers at the premiere on March 16, 1750 at the Theater Royal in Covent Garden:

The premiere was a failure; the work was repeated only twice, on March 21 and 23. After that, in Handel's lifetime, there was only one resumption on March 5, 1755 under the direction of Handel's assistant John Christopher Smith junior.

Theodora is Handel's third oratorio with a Christian theme , alongside Messiah and La Resurrezione . Unlike the Messiah , it is a real dramatic oratorio with a plot. It is said of Morell that Handel is said to have said about the failure of the work: “The jews will not come to it because it is a Christian story; and the ladies will not come because it is a virtuous one ".

Web links

literature

  • Winton Dean : Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques . Clarendon, Oxford 1989, ISBN 0-19-816184-0 , (Original edition: Oxford University Press, Oxford 1959), (English).
  • Hans Joachim Marx : Handel's oratorios, odes and serenatas. A compendium. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-27815-2 .
  • Albert Scheibler, Julia Evdokimova: Georg Friedrich Händel. Oratorios guides . Edition Cologne, Lohmar 1993, ISBN 3-928010-04-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Joachim Marx : Handel's oratorios, odes and serenatas. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-27815-2 , pp. 233-242.