Theodora

Georg Friedrich Haendel

Theodora, a princess who has converted to Christianity, would rather die than obey the Roman emperor’s order to worship Jupiter. The Roman officer Didymus, secretly also a Christian, tries to save her. 

His penultimate oratorio, written in a creative fever in the space of a single summer month, was a new departure for the 64-year-old George Frideric Handel. Less interested in the dramatic potential of the legend of martyrdom than in the intimate introspection of the characters, he produced a contemplative work, whose plea for freedom of conscience and against totalitarianism has lost none of its relevance today. Certainly much of this is down to Handel’s colourful score, which paints a nuanced picture of the persecuted Theodora’s inner self.  

Under the leadership of Thomas Dunford, the Ensemble Jupiter ‘heaven stormers’ and a star-studded cast headed up by Lea Desandre bring this gripping oratorio to life in a concert performance at the Centre for Fine Arts.