Handel: Jephtha

Christophers's taut, vibrant, and beautifully sprung account is bright and dazzling, yet so often the score ought to inhabit the tortured light and shade of Caravaggio...the choruses are finely... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2015, More…

Release Date: 1st Sep 2014
Catalogue No: COR16121
Label: Coro
Length: 2 hours 47 minutes

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Handel: Jephtha

2:47:49

$47.20

$65.30

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers
Matthew Brook, Susan Bickley, Robin Blaze, Sophie Bevan, Grace Davidson, James Gilchrist, Jephtha, Zebul

Jephtha, HWV 70, Act I: Overture

7:30

$1.55

$2.20

Accompagnato. "It Must Be So" - Air. "Pour Forth No More"

4:17

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$1.45

"No More to Ammon's God and King"

2:43

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Show 41 remaining tracks for Handel: Jephtha

Jephtha, HWV 70, Act I, Scene 2: Recitative. "But Jephtha Comes" - Air. "Virtue My Soul Shall Still Embrace"

4:45

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Recitative. "'Twill Be a Painful Separation" - Air. "In Gentle Murmurs"

5:01

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Recitative. "Happy This Embassy" - Air. "Dull Delay"

3:44

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Recitative. "Ill Suits the Voice of Love" - Air. "Take the Heart"

3:36

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Recitative. "I Go; My Soul" - Duet. "These Labors Past"

6:40

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Recitative. "What Mean These Doubtful Fancies" - Accompagnato. "If, Lord" - Recitative. "'Tis Said"

2:00

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"O God, Behold Our Sore Distress"

4:16

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Recitative. "Some Dire Event" - Air. "Scenes of Horror"

4:57

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Recitative. "Say, My Dear Mother" - Air. "The Smiling Dawn"

3:43

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Recitative. "Such, Jephtha, Was the Haughty King's Reply" - "When His Loud Voice Spoke in Thunder"

5:14

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Recitative. "Glad Tidings of Great Joy to Thee"

1:18

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"Cherub and Seraphim"

3:16

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Air. "'Up the Dreadful Steep Ascending"

4:07

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Recitative. "'Tis Well" - Air. "Tune the Soft Melodious Lute"

5:13

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Recitative. "Heav'n Smiles Once More" - Air. "His Mighty Arm"

5:55

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"In Glory High, in Might Serene"

2:31

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Jephtha, HWV 70, Act 2, Scene III: Symphony

1:08

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Recitative. "Hail, Glorious Conqueror!" - Air. "Welcome as the Cheerful Light"

4:18

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Recitative. "Horror! Confusion!" - Air. "Open thy marble jaws"

4:52

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Recitative. "Why is My Brother Thus Afflicted?"

1:08

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Accompagnato and Air. "First Perish Thou"

2:18

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Recitative. "If Such Thy Cruel Purpose" - Air. "On Me Let Blind Mistaken Zeal"

2:10

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Quartet. "O Spare Your Daughter"

3:12

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Recitative. "Such News Flies Swift" - Accompagnato. "For Joys so Vast"

1:15

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Air. "Happy They; This Vital Breath"

3:50

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Accompagnato. "Deeper and Deeper Still"

3:17

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"How Dark, O Lord, are Thy Decrees"

7:26

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Air. "Hide Thou Thy Hated Beams, O Sun, in Clouds"

2:42

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Accompagnato. "A Father Off'ring Up" - Air. "Waft Her, Angels"

5:18

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Accompagnato. "Ye Sacred Priests" - Air. "Fairwell, ye Limpid Springs and Floods"

5:33

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"Doubtful Fear and Rev'rent Awe"

3:55

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Sinfonia

2:39

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Recitative. "Rise, Jephtha" - Air. "Happy, Iphis, Shalt Thou Live"

5:15

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Air. "For Ever Blessed by Thy Holy Name"

1:01

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"Theme Sublime of Endless Praise"

3:16

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Recitative. "Let Me Congratulate" - Air. "Laud Her, all ye Virgin Train"

2:38

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Recitative. "Oh, Let Me Fold Thee in a Mother's Arms" - Air. "Sweet as Sight to the Blind"

2:46

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Recitative. "With Transport, Iphis" - Air. "'Tis Heav'n's All-Ruling Pow'r"

5:26

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Recitative. "My Faithful Hamor" - Quintet. "All That is in Hamor is Mine"

3:50

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"Ye House of Gilead, With One Voice"

3:49

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Jephtha, HWV 70, Act II, Scene 2: Recitative. "Again Heav'n Smiles" - Air. "Freedom Now"

4:01

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Hide 41 tracks for Handel: Jephtha

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Renowned for their Handel interpretations, Harry Christophers and his award-winning choir, The Sixteen, add to their glittering catalogue of Handel discs with this new recording of Jephtha. The Sixteen are joined by a stellar cast of soloists: James Gilchrist, Susan Bickley, Sophie Bevan, Robin Blaze, Matthew Brook and Grace Davidson.

‘It has been reckoned that Handel put more notes on paper than any other composer before or since. When he undertook Jephtha, the last new oratorio he was to write, he had composed over 40 operas, over 30 odes, oratorios and serenatas, over 100 cantatas, over 40 pieces of church music, and over 100 instrumental works. Jephtha is the harvest of his decades of penetration and expression of individual character, the human condition, the natural world and the nature of God, and for many listeners it is the masterpiece among his oratorios.’ (Ruth Smith: from her CD booklet article)

Reviews

January 2015

Christophers's taut, vibrant, and beautifully sprung account is bright and dazzling, yet so often the score ought to inhabit the tortured light and shade of Caravaggio...the choruses are finely chiselled; but the sheer polish and manicure sometimes works against the visceral immediacy of any underlying 'sore distress'...The star of the set is Sophie Bevan's Iphis.

The choral singing is exemplary, technically perfect (particularly in Handel’s coloratura runs) and with a real sense of engagement in the unfolding drama. The solo contributions are equally accomplished, none more so than James Gilchrist.

20th September 2014

Christophers draws supple singing from his expert choir, The Sixteen, and his soloists are uniformly good, especially James Gilchrist’s inward-looking Jephtha.

September 2014

Gilchrist conveys affable nonchalance in the early stages...and aptly characterises Jephtha's deepening emotional responses to the unfolding tragedy...Bevan's Iphis is endearingly naive in 'Tune the soft melodious lute'...whereas her modest resignation to a tragic doom is profoundly moving...The orchestra play excellently.

December 2014

Iphis is sung here by the radiant British star soprano Sophie Bevan in her most important recording to date...This is an unforgettable performance which all Handelians will want to hear...In sum, Christophers's considered view of Handel, devoid of extremes and eccentricities, and the work of his outstanding choir and orchestra make this a solid recommendation for anyone contemplating Jephtha for the first time.

21st September 2014

two hours of deeply profound music, beautifully performed here by Harry Christophers and his stellar cast of soloists. Sophie Bevan is dazzling as the daughter, Iphis...and James Gilchrist is simply sensational as the anguished Jephtha, breaking our hearts with Waft her, angels, through the sky.

6th September 2014

This pristine recording by Harry Christophers and his Sixteen Choir and Orchestra does almost full justice to it. My only quibble is that it projects polished urbanity rather than raw emotion, though the cast (James Gilchrist, Susan Bickley, Sophie Bevan prominent) cannot be faulted for stylishness or expressivity.

3 CDs

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